BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 31. The Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan has announced that it has reached financial close on a 500 MW wind farm near the city of Zarafshan in the country’s Navoi region,Trend reports via the ministry.
The wind farm will be built by UAE’s Masdar company. Upon completion, the wind farm will be powering 500,000 homes.
Commercial operations are expected to commence by the end of 2024, and the government of Uzbekistan expects over $600 million in Foreign Direct Investment to flow into the country regarding the project.
Masdar is currently contracted to develop an additional 890 MW of photovoltaic (PV) capacity at sites in the country's Samarkand, Jizzakh and Sherabad regions over the coming years.
Following last year’s launch of the 100 MW Nur Navoi PV power plant - Uzbekistan’s first independent solar power producer - Zarafshan, which will be Central Asia’s largest wind farm, is the second utility-scale renewables project developed by Masdar in Uzbekistan.
Power Purchase Agreements for the plant’s output have been in place with the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade and National Electric Grid JSC of Uzbekistan since June 2020.
Uzbekistan’s long-term strategy to diversify its energy mix targets 8 GW of solar and wind power by 2026 and 12 GW of renewable sources by 2030.