BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 12
By Nargiz Sadikhovova - Trend:
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU climate bank, together with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and PROPARCO, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), will invest €87.4m in construction of Total Eren`s 100 MW photovoltaic solar plant near the ancient city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Trend reports citing EIB.
The EIB will provide a €43.7 million loan while EBRD and PROPARCO will provide approximately €21.8 million each to the project developer Tutly Solar LLC. The company is fully owned by Total Eren, a leading French independent renewable energy producer.
The Tutly Solar Plant is one of the first private-sector renewable energy projects in Uzbekistan. Its development will support Uzbekistan’s plans to develop 8 GW of solar and wind capacity in the country by 2030.
The investment in Tutly solar power plant will help diversify the energy mix in Uzbekistan, currently dominated by fossil fuel-fired power stations. It will also increase generation capacity and the reliability of supply addressing the growing demand for electricity in the country.
Once implemented, the project will help reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 160,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The power plant will generate an additional 270 GWh of electricity for thousands of inhabitants of Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s most populated country, improving living and doing business conditions in the country.
The electric power produced by Tutly Solar will be sold to the Uzbek national power operator, National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan, through a 25-year power-purchasing agreement.
The project will contribute to priorities identified in the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation and infrastructure; and climate action.