Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company Masdar will develop two solar photovoltaic (PV) power projects with a combined capacity of 440 megawatts (MW) in Uzbekistan.

In May, Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy had announced that Masdar was selected for both projects based on a competitive tender. 

Masdar said in a statement that it will build and operate the solar PV plants, which will each have a capacity of 220 MW, on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

The Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) were signed on Tuesday by Sobirjon Artikov, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.

Commercial operation of the projects, which will be located in the Samarkand and Jizzakh regions of Uzbekistan, is expected to start in the first quarter of 2023, the statement said.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) acted as lead transaction advisor to the Government of Uzbekistan for the two projects.

Masdar’s existing projects in Uzbekistan include country’s first PPP solar project, the 100 MW Nur Navoi Solar Project, and Zarafshan wind farm – the largest in Central Asia.

In April, Masdar had signed an Implementation Agreement with the Uzbekistan government to extend the capacity of the wind farm from the initial 500 MW to up to 1.5 gigawatts (GW). 

Masdar has also won the tender for another solar project, a 457 MW solar PV power plant in the Sherabad district of the Surkhandarya province.

Under its renewable energy programme, Uzbekistan is aiming to deploy 5 GW of solar and 3 GW of wind power capacity by 2030 to meet its goal of generating 25 percent of electricity needs from renewable sources by that year.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by Seban Scaria)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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