Uzbekistan picks winners in 500-MW solar tender

French renewables company Voltalia SA (EPA:VLTSA), UAE's Masdar and a consortium of GD Power and Powerchina have been selected in a tender in Uzbekistan to build three solar parks in the Central Asian country with a combined capacity of 500 MW.

A site in the western Khorezm province near the border with Turkmenistan has been awarded to Voltalia where the French company plans to build a 123-MW/100-MW AC solar project. Voltalia's proposal is for USD 0.0288 (EUR 0.027) per kWh, the Ministry of Energy and National Grid of Uzbekistan said last week.

The solar farm will feature bi-facial panels mounted on trackers with commissioning scheduled to take place in 2024.

Masdar emerged as a winner in the competition for a 250-MW project in the Bukhara region, offering USD 0.0304 per kWh. The solar plant will be combined with a battery energy storage system (BESS) with a capacity of 62 MW.

The GD Power – Powerchina consortium was selected to build a photovoltaic (PV) park with a capacity of 150 MW in the Namangan region. The companies won the bidding with a proposal for USD 0.0482 per kWh.

The auction was launched in July by the Ministry of Energy and National Grid of Uzbekistan to support the country's target of developing 12 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.942)

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