TASHKENT

Turkey’s Cengiz Energy company has started building a thermal power plant with a capacity of 240 megawatts using modern combined-cycle plants (CCGT) in one of Uzbekistan’s central regions.

Earlier this year, the country’s Investment and Foreign Trade Ministry said that investments from Turkey up to $150 million would be attracted for the construction of this power plant and ensure the generation of affordable electricity for the growing population of the region.

The thermal power plant, which will use natural gas to generate electricity, will include two gas turbines manufactured by the U.S. General Electric and one steam turbine manufactured by Germany’s Siemens.

The plant is expected to be operational by the end of the year and under the 25-year power purchase agreement with the government Cengiz Energy will sell electricity to the local operator National Electric Grids, the Energy Ministry said.

It added that the construction of the plant in the capital’s Kibray district would cover the needs of the Tashkent region and reduce technological energy losses for transportation through the main power grids.

Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s largest country by population, has been experiencing power shortages in cold winter days for many years and energy officials put the blame on huge energy losses due to ageing infrastructure and fast-growing demand both by the businesses and population, which now stands at over 34 million.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, since he came to power in 2016, prioritised reforming the country’s energy system by opening up it to foreign investors offering public-private partnership in the power sector.

Over the past six months of this year, Uzbekistan has signed 10 contracts for the construction of thermal, solar and wind power plants in the electric power industry with a total capacity of 4,341 megawatts, which is about a third of the current capacity of operating power plants in the country.

In April, the Energy Ministry has signed a power purchase agreement with Stone City Energy, the Dutch-registered company, which will build a new thermal power plant in the southern Surkhandarya region by 2024.

The cost of the project for the construction of the power plant in the Surkhandarya region with a capacity of 1,560 megawatts is expected to be around $1.2 billion.

Uzbekistan has been keen to develop clean energy in recent years and has recently increased its renewable energy target to a total of 12 gigawatts by 2030.

The country hopes to increase its photovoltaic (PV) solar plant capacity from the current forecast of 5 gigawatts to 7 gigawatts and wind power generation from 3 gigawatts to 5 gigawatts, according to its updated energy development concept.