The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved US$150 million in financing for the Modernization and Upgrade of Transmission Substations Project in Uzbekistan. It is aimed at improving the technical efficiency and reliability of the power transmission networks in the country.
The project will help the Government of Uzbekistan address an important constraint of its business environment which, combined with efforts by the private sector, will support creation of new jobs. The investment is part of the country’s goal to maintain dynamic rates of sustainable economic growth and transform Uzbekistan into an industrialized upper middle income country by 2030.
“The outdated infrastructure in critical areas of Uzbekistan’s electricity sector, including its transmission network, represents an important bottleneck and source of considerable vulnerability for households and firms,” said Jan-Peter Olters, acting World Bank Manager for Uzbekistan. “The Government’s focus on addressing key institutional and infrastructure constraints will help boost the private sector’s productivity and support the creation of new, well-paying jobs—thereby improving economic prospects and living standards of households, in particular, those in the most vulnerable situations.”
The project will improve the performance of the energy sector by rehabilitating 22 high-priority substations in Tashkent City and 10 regions of the country reducing technical losses and operations and maintenance costs. It will allow the country to acquire 110 kilo-volt/medium-voltage mobile substations and emergency restoration systems required for the speedy repair of outages in transmission lines. This new technology will strengthen the resilience of the national energy grid. By improving efficiency and reducing wasted energy, the project will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the equivalent of the annual energy use of over 6 million families in Uzbekistan.
The project, implemented by Uzbekenergo JSC, is financed with US$92 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and US$58 million from the International Development Association (IDA).
Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992 and IFC in 1995. The World Bank Group’s mission in the country is to improve people’s livelihoods by being a partner in economic reforms, supporting the modernization of the country’s social sectors and infrastructure, and sharing its knowledge and experience with the government and the people of Uzbekistan. Current World Bank commitments to Uzbekistan amount to more than US$2 billion.
