Uzbek president launches construction of wind farms, manufacturing enterprises in Karakalpakstan
TASHKENT. Aug 20 (Interfax) - Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in a ceremony launching the construction of wind farms and manufacturing enterprises during a working trip to the Republic of Karakalpakstan in northwestern Uzbekistan, the presidential press service said.
The first project aims to build a $1.2-billion 1GW wind farm by the Chinese company Sany Renewable in the Qonirat district. The second project is a $250-million 200MW wind farm with a 100MW storage facility to be built together with the Saudi company ACWA Power in the Beruniy and Qaraozek districts.
"They will generate 4.2 billion kilowatt/hours of green energy per year, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of 1.75 million households. About 1.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be saved, and emissions will be cut by almost 2 million tonnes," it said.
Construction of enterprises to make wind turbine parts, struts and blades will simultaneously begin in the Qonirat district to localize production of 1,000MW wind turbine parts and 120 struts per year. The value of products substituting the imports will reach $100 million.
A $24-million enterprise to produce 20 million heating radiators per year will be built in the Nukus district.
Karakalpakstan has a potential to generate 680GW solar energy and 120GW wind energy, Mirziyoyev said, citing research.
Plans are in place to build ten large wind farms with an overall capacity of 10.3GW in the region by 2030, using direct investment of $11 billion. As the projects reach their rated capacity, 35 billion kilowatt/hours of renewable energy will be generated per year.
Three electricity storage facilities with a total capacity of 400MW will be built in three districts to ensure stable electricity transmission.
Currently, Uzbekistan is implementing 32 green projects with a total value of $19 billion and a total capacity of 18.6GW, it said.
By the end of this year, an additional 1.5GW capacity will be connected to the power grid and the share of renewable energy will reach 15%.
As reported at the end of 2023, Uzbek energy capacities reached 85 billion kilowatt/hours, and the capacities of another 20 billion kilowatt/hours were due to be launched in the coming years. Electricity generation needs to reach at last 120 billion kilowatt/hours in order to satisfy the growing needs of the economy and the population. The commissioning of new facilities and the complete overhaul of power networks will require investment totaling $52 billion.