Uzbekistan will launch a new solar power plant in the Khorezm region with the support of the World Bank.
The World Bank has approved funding of $3.5 million in the form of a bank guarantee for Uzbekistan. This guarantee will ensure the timely fulfillment of payment obligations by the state company JSC "National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan" for the purchase of electricity generated by a new solar power plant with a capacity of 100 MW. The construction and operation of this facility in the Khorezm region will be undertaken by the French company Voltalia. This information was provided to Anhor.uz by the bank's press service.
The commissioning of the solar power plant is scheduled for November 2025. It will be located on an area of 177 hectares and is expected to generate over 240 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy annually. Its operation is anticipated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 230,000 tons per year and provide clean energy to approximately 60,000 households.
“The World Bank Group supports Uzbekistan in meeting its energy needs and increasing the share of renewable energy sources to 25 GW by 2030, which will account for 40% of the total electricity consumption in the country by the end of the decade according to the ‘Uzbekistan 2030’ strategy,” noted Tatyana Proskuryakova, Regional Director of the World Bank for Central Asia. “We are pleased that the World Bank's bank guarantee, provided under the solar power plant project in the Khorezm region, has facilitated attracting new private investors into the renewable energy sector. This has helped diversify the industry and bring additional players into the market, providing significant benefits to the country.”
The solar power plant project will be implemented by Sarimay Foreign Enterprise LLC, a subsidiary of Voltalia. The company will be responsible for the design, financing, construction, and operation of the facility. After it is commissioned, Sarimay Foreign Enterprise LLC will sell the electricity generated by the plant to the state company JSC "National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan." This is stipulated in a power purchase agreement between the two parties for a duration of 25 years.
The bank guarantee of up to $3.5 million provided by the World Bank will secure the payment obligations of JSC "National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan" for purchasing electricity from Sarimay Foreign Enterprise LLC. This guarantee has also helped attract additional capital investments of $80 million, including over $54 million in funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), necessary for the project implementation in the Khorezm region.
“Since 2020, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, have supported the efforts of the government of Uzbekistan to create capacities for 1000 MW of solar and 500 MW of wind energy. To achieve these goals, we have provided bank guarantees, financial resources, consulting services, technical assistance, and facilitated the attraction of private investments for renewable energy projects,” said Ferhat Esen, Senior Energy Specialist at the World Bank and Head of the Working Group on Bank Guarantees in the Energy Sector of Uzbekistan.
To date, renewable energy projects supported by the World Bank Group in Uzbekistan include: the first solar power plant with a capacity of 100 MW in Uzbekistan, located in the Navoi region (commissioned in 2021); a solar power plant with a capacity of 440 MW in Samarkand and Jizzakh regions (commissioned in 2024); the first wind power plant with a capacity of 500 MW in Uzbekistan, located in the Navoi region (commissioned in 2024); as well as a solar power plant with a capacity of 250 MW featuring a battery energy storage system (BESS) with a capacity of 63 MW/126 MWh in the Bukhara region (under construction). The BESS being installed in Bukhara is the first of its kind in Central Asia and the first in the world to receive a bank guarantee from the World Bank for the implementation of a renewable energy project.