The Ministry of Energy announced the launch of call for bids for the construction of three PV plants with a total capacity of 500 MW in three provinces of the country. The project is being implemented with the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC, part of the World Bank).
The three PV plants are planned to be built in Namangan (150 MW), Bukhara (250 MW) and Khorezm (100 MW) provinces. Under the terms of the tender, the winner will design, finance, operate and maintain the solar PV plant for 25 years. The deadline for bidding is November 29.
In May 2018, Uzbekistan signed an agreement on advisory services with IFC to attract private investors to finance, design, build and operate solar power plants in Uzbekistan worth up to US$ 1 billion.
The pilot project of the agreement is a 100 MW solar station in the Navoi province, which was commissioned by Masdar from the United Arab Emirates at the end of August. The cost of the project, implemented under the public-private partnership (PPP) terms, is US$ 110 million; the plant will generate up to 252 million kWh annually.
Masdar was also awarded contracts for the construction of PV plants in three more provinces of the country - Jizzakh, Samarkand and Surkhandarya provinces with a total capacity of about 900 MW and a cost of about US$ 1 billion. The facilities are planned to be built by the fall of 2023.
Note: Uzbekistan intends to bring solar generation capacity up to 5 GW by 2030.
