Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Uzbekistan is committed to the sustainable and reliable functioning of the fuel and energy complex, which guarantees the country's energy security. Strategically, the construction of solar photovoltaic plants is of a national and regional nature.

The first solar photovoltaic station in Uzbekistan will be built in the Navoi region, the Uzbekenergo reported.

According to the Uzbekenergo, the process of selecting investors for the construction of a power plant will be completed in the first half of 2019.

A solar photovoltaic station with a total capacity of 100 MW will be built in the Navoi region with the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

IFC is a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group. It is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries. The Bank Group has set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030: end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in every country.

With the assistance of the International Finance Corporation in Uzbekistan, a tender was launched to attract private investors for the construction of solar photovoltaic stations.

A conference was held in Tashkent for potential investors at the end of November 2018, in which more than 20 major energy companies and international financial organizations took part that showed great interest in PPP projects in Uzbekistan.

According to the Uzbek media, the French company Total EREN and Masdar from the United Arab Emirates have shown interest in the project so far.

Founded in 2012, Total EREN is the subsidiary dedicated to renewable energy of Eren Groupe, the first group dedicated to natural resource efficiency. Total EREN is an Independent Power producer (IPP) which develops, finances, invests in, builds and operates renewable energy power plants on the long term at a global level.

Established in 2006, Masdar, or Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, is a global leader in renewable energy and sustainable urban development. Masdar means ‘source’ in Arabic.

According to the project for a solar photovoltaic station construction with a capacity of 100 MW in the Navoi region, a document of the request for prequalification selection was published, which can be found on the Uzbekenergo JSC's website.

Prequalification is a documented request of an organization interested in purchasing any goods or services. Created by the customer for potential contractors (suppliers) in the tender or auction processes.

By applying for a request for quotation when searching for a counterparty, the contracting authority informs a wide range of suppliers about the planned purchase. With this action, the customer encourages the supplier to submit a more lucrative offer than with personal contact.

Recently, the German company Graess Energy began construction of a small pilot solar power plant in Muinak region.

Earlier, Uzbekistan intended to build five solar photovoltaic stations with a total capacity of 500 MW and a preliminary cost of more than $ 1.1 billion by 2021. According to expert estimates, the total potential of solar energy in the country exceeds 51 billion tons of oil equivalent.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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