TASHKENT

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar), one of the leading renewable energy companies in the world,  has won a tender to build two photovoltaic power plants, with a capacity of 220 megawatts each, in central Samarkand and Jizzakh regions of Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade said that the winner was chosen among 18 companies from China, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, India, South Africa, Russia, Spain, Norway and France that had participated in the pre-qualification selection.

The ministry said that Masdar had won the tender for the construction of a photovoltaic power plant in Jizzakh region with a tariff of 1.823 cents per kilowatt/hour of generated electricity.

Masdar has also won the second bid for the construction of a solar power plant in the Samarkand region with a tariff of 1.791 cents per kilowatt/hour of generated electricity.

Both power plants are expected to be operational by the end of 2022. Their launch will ensure the generation of 1.04 billion kilowatts/hours of electricity per year.

The amount of investments for the implementation of these two projects is estimated at around $400 million.

The implementation of these projects will help Uzbekistan achieve its goals of increasing the volume of electricity generated by solar energy up to 5 gigawatts in the coming years.

The Central Asian country has been carrying out reforms in its energy sector to modernise ageing infrastructure and implement energy-efficient technologies, as well as to develop clean energy.

Uzbekistan plans to bring the share of alternative energy sources in the total energy balance of the country to 25 percent, which in turn will reduce its energy dependence on gas and coal.

In April, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree to build a hydrogen energy infrastructure to help Uzbekistan’s transition to a greener economy.

The country plans to boost the capacity of its renewable energy projects, aiming to attract $1.8 billion investment to develop the largest wind farm in Central Asia, in a move to produce clean energy, strengthen the security of supply and combat climate change.

The project will be implemented jointly with Masdar.