Arab News, Tuesday, May 23, 2023 | Thul-Qidah 3, 1444
TAQA to invest over $3bn in Uzbekistan’s power sector
Saudi Arabia:
Uzbekistan’s power sector is set to receive a major boost after the UAE-based
utilities firm Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. announced plans to invest over $3
billion in new and existing power plants.
Also known as TAQA, the Abu Dhabi Stock
Exchange-listed company has signed a strategic partnership with the Uzbek
government to explore projects and investment opportunities within the Central
Asian country’s energy sector, the company said in a press release.
The strategic collaboration includes proposals for
a greenfield-combined cycle power plant with a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts. The
new project is set to be developed adjacent to the existing Talimarjan power
complex where TAQA is already working on two gas-fired power plants.
Under this new partnership, TAQA expects to be
responsible for all the work related to plant design, financing, engineering,
and procurement.
The firm is also anticipated to be held
accountable for outsourcing, testing, ownership, and operation.
TAQA also sealed agreements with a number of
existing power plants and other new gas-fired plants with a total capacity of
more than 3 GW.
“By working together, we can accelerate the
sustainable development of the electricity sector in the country as well as
strengthen the bonds of the strong relationship between our two countries,” said
Group CEO and Managing Director at TAQA Jasim Husain Thabet.
The gas firm also secured deals regarding
electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure in the country.
“This new partnership and the proposed projects
build on the cooperation opportunities that exist today between the Republic of
Uzbekistan and the UAE as well as our common vision to support the energy sector
and invest in sustainable and reliable energy services,” Deputy Minister of
Investments and Foreign Trade for Uzbekistan Shukhrat Vafaev said in a
statement.
These agreements come after Saudi Arabia’s ACWA
Power earlier this month inked deals valued at over $120 million for energy
projects in Uzbekistan, in what was a further strengthening of bilateral energy
relations between the Kingdom and the country.
In April, ACWA Power announced it will develop two
wind power plants in Uzbekistan financed by loans of $174 million from the Asian
Development Bank.
This deal followed agreements worth $2.5 billion
signed with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan to develop three solar
photovoltaic projects in the Tashkent, Bukhara, and Samarkand regions of the
country.