The World Bank will provide a new bank guarantee for Uzbekistan's energy sector, as announced by the organization's press service.
The guarantee, amounting to $3.5 million, is being granted to the "National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan." It will ensure that the state enterprise can fulfill its obligation to purchase electricity from Sarimay Foreign Enterprise LLC, a subsidiary of the French company Voltalia.
Sarimay Foreign Enterprise LLC is constructing a solar power plant in the Khorezm region, which is scheduled to be launched in November 2025. The company will be responsible for energy sales for 25 years following the launch.
The solar power plant will be located on a 177-hectare site and is expected to produce over 240 GWh of renewable energy annually. It is estimated that its operation will reduce annual atmospheric emissions by 230,000 tons and provide "green" energy to 60,000 households.
“We are pleased that the World Bank’s bank guarantee <...> has helped attract new private investors to the renewable energy sector,” said Tatiana Proskuryakova, the regional director of the World Bank for Central Asia. “This has allowed for the diversification of the sector and the attraction of additional players to the market, which brings significant benefits to the country.”
Voltalia won the tender for the construction of the solar power plant in Sarimay, Khorezm region, in December 2022. It was later decided to increase the plant's capacity to 126 MW and to establish an energy storage system for it.
The construction of the power plant commenced on February 29, in the presence of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Voltalia's CEO Sebastian Clair. In May, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade signed a memorandum for the nearby construction of a 500 MW "green" energy storage complex. In November, the EBRD approved a loan of $54.6 million for the project's implementation.
The French company is also exploring opportunities for constructing a 100 MW wind farm in Khorezm. Furthermore, it is designing a hybrid power plant combining a solar farm and a wind farm with a total capacity of 400 MW in the Navoi region.
Earlier, Spot reported that the EBRD would allocate over $66 million for the Sarimay - Muruntau power line project.