Masdar reaches financial close for three solar projects (900 MW) in Uzbekistan

The UAE’s Masdar has reached financial close for three solar PV projects in eastern Uzbekistan totalling approximately 900 MW, after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) granted a US$205m financial package to Masdar. On top of the EBRD, the three solar projects - Sherabad (457 MW), Samarkand (220 MW) and Jizzakh (220 MW) - will be financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the European Investment Bank (EIB). In 2021, Masdar had signed agreements with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade, and Uzbekistan's National Electric Grid to design, finance, build and operate the three utility-scale solar projects. The projects are expected to be completed by 2024.

Masdar is already operating the 100 MW Nur Navoi solar project in Uzbekistan; in 2022, the group was awarded the 250 MW Bukhara solar PV project that will also include a 62 MW battery storage system, and it achieved financial close on the 500 MW Zarafshan wind project. In March 2023, Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power signed agreements worth US$2.5bn with the Uzbek Ministry of Energy to build two solar power plants totalling 1.4 GW.

At the end of 2021, Uzbekistan had only 104 MW of installed solar capacity. However, the country targets 8 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2026 and 12 GW by 2030 (7 GW of solar and 5 GW of wind). The country is planning to build at least 5 GW of solar, 3 GW of wind, and 1.9 GW of hydropower capacities by 2030 to cover 25% of the power mix (up from 10% in 2019). Uzbekistan also plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.