Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Sept. 6 / Trend D. Azizov /
The Uzbekenergo State Joint Stock Company will start modernising the Angren thermal power station in the Tashkent region worth $249.3 million in the last quarter of this year, a company representative told Trend on Thursday.
According to the source, the company is currently completing a tender to choose a general contractor. It is planned to start work in late October - early November.
It was previously reported that the Uzbek leadership decided to accelerate the project implementation in late 2011. The technical and economic calculations and sources of financing the plant modernisation were also approved.
According to the document, the term of the project implementation was reduced by one year. It was planned to start the station in early 2012 and to complete it in the last quarter of 2014.
According to the experts, coal burning at the power station will be increased from 20 per cent to 45 per cent as a result of the upgrade.
The project was financed from Uzbekenergo's own funds to the sum of $83.7 million and China's Eximbank loan of $165.5 million.
The Angren thermal power station is one two power stations in Uzbekistan, partially working on coal, in winter during the heating season. The installed capacity of eight energy blocks is 484 MW. The first unit was commissioned in 1957, the eighth in 1968. In fact, the station's capacity does not exceed 90 MW.
At present, around 45 electric power stations with a total capacity of 12,400 MW, including 16 electric Uzbekenergo power stations with a total capacity of 12,040 MW operate in the Uzbek power system. The rest of the electricity is generated by autonomous thermal power stations and small hydroelectric power stations belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.
According to official statistics, electric power production increased by 1.3 per cent in Uzbekistan in 2011 up to 52.416 billion kilowatt hours compared to 2010.