TASHKENT

Uzbekistan has announced the launch of the prequalification phase of a tender to select independent power producers to develop three solar photovoltaic plants in the country with a total capacity of 500 megawatts.

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.

The International Finance Corporation will be consulting the government on the upcoming tender for the projects that are expected to be developed on the build–own–operate–transfer basis, Energy Ministry said.

The tender includes three site lots in Namangan, Bukhara and Khorezm regions with a total summed capacity of up to 500 megawatts.

The winning developers are expected to design, finance, operate, maintain, and transfer the solar PV plants. For the Bukhara site it is envisioned to integrate a battery energy storage system as part of the project scope, the ministry said.

The tender will have qualification and proposal stages and the deadline for submitting proposals is November 29, 2021.

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.

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

Earlier this month, Uzbekistan launched the country’s first utility-scale solar plant, the first independent power producer solar project worth $110 million, implemented by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar).

The 100-megawatt photovoltaic station in the Karmana district of the central Navoi region is designed to produce enough power for 31,000 households and eliminate 160,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

The country hopes to increase its photovoltaic 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.

Over the next five years, an additional 11,500 megawatts of new capacities will be commissioned in 19 projects worth $6.5 billion. By 2030, the share of renewable sources in the structure of electricity generation will exceed 30 percent, according to Uzbek officials.