Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Eleven international companies will present their proposals at a tender to select an investor for the construction of a solar photovoltaic station (PVP) with a capacity of 200 MW in Sherabad district of Surkhandarya region.

This investment project based on the principles of public-private partnership was launched by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The project is part of the ADB program for the development of solar energy in Uzbekistan with a capacity of 1 GW, implemented under the Memorandum between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and ADB, and is also included in the Investment Program for 2020-2022. 

A photovoltaic (solar) power plant with a capacity of at least 200 MW AC, including a new 220 kV substation and an overhead power transmission line 52 km long for connection to the Surkhan substation, will be built at the site selected for the Project, located in the Sherabad district of the Surkhandarya region.

The implementation of the tender part of the Project has gone through a number of stages.

On 1 February 2020, the tender stage started, during which potential investors submitted an "expression of interest" (EOI) in accordance with the established requirements (the form could be found on the websites of the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade and the Agency for the Development of Public-Private partnership under the Ministry of Finance). As a result, 54 applications were received from international companies, which were publicly announced on 6 March.

On 26 June 2020, the stage of the tender “Request for qualification” was launched. As a result, on 3 December, a “short list” of 11 international companies that successfully passed the qualification stage was presented, which were subsequently invited to the “Request for Proposals” to submit competitive (price) proposals.

In April 2021, the winner is expected to be announced based on the results of the RFQ and the best price offer. After signing the project agreements and reaching financial closure, construction of the power plant will begin, which is expected in 2022.