BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.8
By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:
Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade signed an investment agreement with the UAE‘s Masdar renewable energy company in Uzbekistan’s capital of Tashkent on Nov. 8, Trend reports citing the ministry’s press service.
Masdar is investing up to $100 million in the construction of a photovoltaic station with a total capacity of 100 MW in Uzbekistan’s Navoi region.
On Oct. 4, 2019, Masdar was declared the winner of the first open tender in Uzbekistan’s history on attracting investments in public-private partnerships (PPPs) in solar energy.
Masdar came up with a proposal to supply solar energy for just 2,679 US cents per kilowatt hour, which is one of the lowest tariffs in emerging markets.
Masdar will carry out the design, financing, construction and operation of the power plant throughout the project implementation period (25 years).
The start of construction work is expected in the first quarter of 2020 with the commissioning of the power plant by the first quarter of 2021.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) was involved as a consultant on the transaction, assisting the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade in developing relevant documentation and conducting tenders, in which more than 40 companies from different countries participated.
On Oct. 18, 2019, Uzbekistan’s Government signed a mandate with the IFC in Washington on the development of up to 900 MW of solar energy through public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
In the coming months, tenders are expected to start on the basis of a public-private partnership for two more projects in the field of solar energy with a capacity of up to 200 MW each in Samarkand and Jizzakh regions, followed by an additional round for a capacity of 500 MW. In total, the energy sector will attract about $1 billion of direct foreign investment.
Masdar, or Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, is a global leader in renewable energy and sustainable urban development.
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