Today, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended the Uzbekistan GTL plant inauguration ceremony in Guzar district of Kashkadarya province. The plant’s full operation is due to start from March 1, 2022, the presidential press service said.
Reportedly, the $ 3.42 billion plant located on 135 hectares employs over 13 thousand engineers and workers.
Only four countries - Qatar, Nigeria, South Africa and Malaysia house such large complexes, the statement says.
The plant has more than 10 thousand pieces of equipment manufactured by about 130 leading enterprises in 24 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, USA, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Russia and China. Received 140 international licenses and patents for the use of technological solutions, equipment and processes. According to the press service, most of them have no analogues in the world.
The plant is capable of processing 3.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year and producing 307 thousand tons of aviation kerosene, 724 thousand tons of diesel fuel, 437 thousand tons of naphtha, 53 thousand tons of liquefied gas.
It is planned that UzGTL will annually produce over $ 1 billion or 12.8 trillion soums worth of products.
The head of state visited the control room of the plant, from where the production and its safety are controlled and monitored. The center employs young people trained by the American corporation Honeywell.
According to the head of state, 5 chemical-technological clusters are being set up in Uzbekistan in Tashkent, Navoi, Fergana, Bukhara provinces and in Ustyurt.
The President instructed to develop minor production units around the plant, build housing, sports and cultural facilities for the plant workers.
According to the Ministry of Energy, the total cost of the GTL project is $ 3.42 billion. The State Development Bank of China (CDB), the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), the Korea Trade and Insurance Corporation (K-SURE), Gazprombank JSC, Roseximbank JSC, Russian Export Credit Insurance Agency (EXIAR), Credit Suisse, MUFG, Mizuho, Woori Bank, SMBC took part in project financing and have invested in the GTL project.
The general contractor for the project is a consortium of Hyundai Engineering Co., Ltd., Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd (Republic of Korea) and Enter Engineering Pte. Ltd. (Singapore).
In early 2017, Uzbekistan GTL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Uzbekneftegaz, began construction of a synthetic fuel plant. Initially, the project was planned to be implemented in 2020, but the dates have been shifted several times due to the pandemic.
In 2018, Uzbekneftegaz drew $ 2.3 billion from a consortium of international financial institutions to implement the project. The total cost of the facility was then estimated at $ 3.6 billion, of which $ 740 million was provided by the Uzbekistan Fund for Reconstruction and Development and $ 570 million by Uzbefneftegaz. The project's payback is expected to be 7 years.
