Sarimay Project
Renewable energies in Uzbekistan
Today, the energy mix of Uzbekistan is mainly composed of coal and gas fired power plants and only 200 MW of solar energy were producing electricity in 2022.
However, Uzbekistan has a very ambitious renewable energy plan until 2030: in order to match the demand increase of the electricity consumption due to the growth of the population and the climate change, the Government of Uzbekistan targets the commissioning of 12 GW of renewable energy power plants in less than 10 years. If until 2022 the market was largely dominated by a duopoly composed by Masdar and Acwa Power companies, newcomers, like Voltalia, entered the market since 2023. But the country has also to face another issue with the modernization of its electricity grid which becomes old and overloaded.
The main Development Financing Institutions (EBRD, World Bank, ADB) committed to sponsor the different projects of grid modernization and renewable energy projects to reach the given target by 2030. Therefore, and thanks to a very good irradiation factor and wind speed, the Government of Uzbekistan manage to attract investors who propose a very attractive price of electricity.
Sarimay Solar
Sarimay Solar is a 100 MW solar PV project awarded to Voltalia, further to an international tender process organized by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan and sponsored by the International Financing Corporation (“IFC”) under the Scaling Solar 3 program. Voltalia will finance, develop, build, operate and maintain the power plant during 25 years.
In January 2023, Voltalia was notify as the winning bidder after having proposed the cheapest electricity price at 28.88$/MWh. The site is located in the Khorezm region at 200 km of the city of Urgench.
The location and size of the land, the installed capacity, the connection point at the Sarimay existing substation and the terms and conditions of the Power Purchase Agreement have been defined and set up by the Ministry of Energy but the electricity will be sold to JSC National Electricity Grid of Uzbekistan (“JSC NEGU”).
Since then, Voltalia is developing the project which consists in getting the main permits, conducting the preliminary technical studies, analyzing the social and environmental impacts and selecting the suppliers and subcontractors who will work on this project. Before the end of 2023, the Presidential Decree will officially approve the details and the feasibility of this project.
This website provides additional information on the environmental and social aspects of the project, these aspects are crucial to guarantee the long-term implementation of the plant.