The German company Graess Energy has begun construction of a solar power plant in Muinak, Kun.uz correspondent reports with reference to a source at Uzbekenergo.
The pilot project will be divided into two phases. In the first phase, a solar power station with a capacity of 10 MW, which is worth $12 million will be built here. The equipment for it will be supplied by German Siemens and Kaso, the Norwegian REC, and also the Chinese Suntech.
At the second stage, the power plant capacity will increase to 20 MW. The German company will invest another $12 million in this. Thus, the total amount of investment will be $24 million. The station will produce about 20 million kWh electricity per year.
In the course of the project implementation, it is planned to work out technologies for generating electricity in the conditions of Uzbekistan, so that this experience can be used in creating a network of solar power plants in the future.
The launch of the solar power station, called Muinak-1, is scheduled for October this year.
It should be noted that by 2021 Uzbekistan intends to build five solar photovoltaic stations with a total capacity of 500 MW and a preliminary cost of more than $1.1 billion. According to expert estimates, the total potential of solar energy in the country exceeds 51 billion tons of oil equivalent.
SkyPower Global (Cayman Islands) intends to invest $1.3 billion in the construction of solar power plants in Uzbekistan. The facilities are planned to be built in Tashkent, Samarkand, Navoi, Djizak, Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya regions.
The UAE energy company Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC) and the French Total EREN have also expressed interest in the projects.
