Uzbekistan aims to have up to 5GW of installed solar capacity by 2030
Image: The Scaling Solar has been supporting the development of solar PV power. Photo: courtesy of PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay.
The Uzbekistan government has signed a mandate with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, for new public-private partnership (PPP) tenders to develop up to 900MW of solar projects.
The country, which is seeking to diversify its energy matrix, aims to develop have up to 5GW of installed solar capacity by 2030.
Following the launch of the first PPP tender for renewables earlier this year, Uzbekistan has selected Masdar Clean Energy as winning bidder for the construction of 100MW solar park.
As per the terms, Masdar Clean Energy will sell the power produced from the 100MW solar plant. Masdar was selected after it quoted a price of $0.27 per kWh in the bid, which is considered to be one of the lowest tariffs in Uzbekistan.
The PPP project has been tendered under the World Bank’s Scaling Solar programme.
Uzbekistan set to launch second round of PPP tender for two solar projects
In the coming months, the country has plans to launch the second round of PPP tender for two solar projects of up to 200MW each, followed by third round PPP for the 500MW.
Uzbekistan Investment and Foreign Trade Ministry, Deputy Minister and Tender Committee Chairman Shukhrat Vafaev said: “The first solar PPP has set a benchmark for solar prices in our country. We are confident that with the help of IFC we can replicate this success in the next rounds and again attract high-quality private players to develop and finance these projects.”
IFC acted as the transaction adviser, helping the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Energy to design and tender the PPP, which attracted 11 prequalified bidders and five competitive bids.
IFC Latin American and the Caribbean and Europe and Central Asia vice-president Georgina Baker said: “The announcement of the two additional PPP projects immediately after the success of the first solar tender is a testament to Uzbekistan’s commitment to embrace the private sector.”