Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - Masdar (UAE) has signed an agreement to increase the design capacity of its wind farm project in Uzbekistan to 1.5 GW from 500 MW.

In this regard, an event was held in Tashkent on 1 April, dedicated to the adoption of a decision on the construction of the largest wind park in Central Asia. It was attended by a video message Sardor Umurzakov - Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber - Special Envoy of the UAE for Climate Change and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technologies, Alisher Sultanov - Minister of Energy of the Republic Uzbekistan, E. Suhail Al Mazruei - Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the UAE.

An agreement on expanding the design capacity was signed by the investor by the General Director of Masdar Mohamed Jamil Al Ramahi and by the Uzbek side by the Deputy Minister of Energy - Sh. Khodjaev and the Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade - Sh. Vafayev.

Minister of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan Alisher Sultanov said:

“We value our partnership with Masdar and welcome the decision to increase the capacity of the wind farm, which will be the largest of its kind in our region. This is a vital project for Uzbekistan that helps us achieve our goal of generating 25% of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. ”

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said:

“It is important for the UAE that our climate action helps strengthen the actions of others around the world. This partnership is a prime example of how we are putting this principle into practice. Together, we have an unprecedented opportunity to leverage our collective climate action to boost sustainable growth in Uzbekistan while making real progress towards global climate goals. ”

Mohamed Jamil Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, said:

“Today’s event highlights the significant progress we have made not only in this project, but also in helping the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan achieve its goals in the field of clean energy and climate change. As a global leader in the development of wind energy for utilities, Masdar is proud to support Uzbekistan’s low-carbon energy strategy and strengthen our partnership with the government to ensure sustainable development.”

In 2020, Masdar entered into bilateral agreements with the Government of Uzbekistan to design, build and operate a 500 megawatt (MW) wind farm, the second large-scale clean energy project in the country and one of the largest wind farms in Central Asia. The project will attract over $ 600 million in foreign direct investment.

With the signing of a new agreement, the capacity of the project, which will be located in Zarafshan district of Navoi region, has increased to 1.5 GW, which will further help Uzbekistan achieve its goals of generating up to 3 GW of energy by 2030 from wind power plants (WPPs).

The 500 MW wind farm in Zarafshan is expected to be put into commercial operation by the end of 2024. Due to this capacity, the wind farm will be able to generate the amount of electricity sufficient to supply 500,000 houses. It will also help prevent up to 1.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere per year.

We add that the investment agreement for the Zarafshan wind farm project and the agreement on the purchase of electricity was signed by the Uzbek side with Masdar in June 2020.

Also, in December last year, Masdar announced the completion of the financing stage for the Nur Navoi 100 MW solar project, the first successfully funded solar project in Uzbekistan for independent energy producers (IPP). Masdar was announced as the winning bidder for this solar project following the company’s approval of the lowest electricity tariff proposal at US $ 2.679 / kWh.

Renewable energy company Masdar promotes renewable energy, sustainable urban development and clean technologies to address global sustainability challenges. Masdar is part of the Mubadala Investment Company, the strategic investment company of the Abu Dhabi government, whose projects help maintain the UAE’s leadership in the global energy sector, while supporting the diversification of both the economy and energy sources for the benefit of future generations.

Today Masdar operates in more than 30 countries, including the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Egypt, Morocco, UK, USA, Australia, Spain, Serbia, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and others.