UAE's Masdar to build 1 GW wind farm in Uzbekistan

TASHKENT. Nov 13 (Interfax) - The Uzbek Energy Ministry and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) have signed a contract on the sidelines of the COP29 conference for building a wind farm with a capacity of 1 GW in Uzbekistan's Navoiy region, the Energy Ministry's press service said.

The value of the concluded contract has not been disclosed. The wind farm, which will be built in the Uchkuduk district, will produce 3.5 billion kWh of electricity a year, helping to save 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

"This project has great significance for Uzbekistan not only from the economic point of view, but also in terms of protecting the environment. By building this wind farm, atmospheric emissions will be cut by 1.4 million tonnes a year," the press service said.

As part of the ministry's cooperation with Masdar, it has already delivered projects with a total capacity of 1.497 GW. These include a wind farm in the Navoiy region with a capacity of 500 MW and heliostations in the Jizzakh, Samarkand and Surkhandarya regions with a total capacity of 900 MW and valued at around $1 billion. Work is ongoing to build solar power plants in the Bukhara region's Alatsky district (250 MW) and in the Kashkadarya region's Guzar district (300 MW).

Wind power projects are being implemented as part the Uzbek government's program to diversify the country's energy balance, in particular by growing solar and wind energy capacity to 12 GW by 2030.