Posco International offers to conduct geological gas exploration at one of the blocks in Uzbekistan

South Korean Posco International offered the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan to conduct geological exploration at one of the investment blocks of the republic.

On April 18, the Ministry of Energy hosted meetings of the Energy Minister Alisher Sultanov and a number of delegations of South Korea.

“The company Posco International additionally requested a new block for geological exploration at potential natural gas fields,” the ministry said.

The Korean side also expressed its willingness to assist in the training of qualified personnel and organization of advanced training programs for the fuel and energy sector of Uzbekistan.

The companies Posco International, Kepco and Hyundai have expressed interest in collaborating on developing potential projects through creation of a consortium. With this in mind, on April 19, during the Uzbek-Korean business forum, a Memorandum was signed with a consortium for cooperation in the energy sector.

The parties agreed to establish a joint working group to study and develop projects.

During negotiations, implementation of projects for which financing has been attracted by Korea Eximbank, including the construction of a plant for production of synthetic liquid fuel (“Uzbekistan GTL”) and the Surgil gas chemical complex (“Uz-KorGasChemical”) were discussed.

In addition, new projects were proposed for implementation with the attraction of Korea Eximbank financing. These include modernization of the Bukhara oil refinery, construction of a CCGT at the newly constructed thermal power plants, introduction of an automatic control and information collection system (SCADA), as well as an automated system for commercial metering of electricity (ASCME). The Uzbek side also proposed to consider the possibility of raising funds from the Korean Economic Development and Cooperation Foundation (EDCF) for SCADA projects.

It was also agreed to establish a joint working group to ensure transparency and speed up the procedures related to opening credit lines in order to start financing projects before the end of 2019.

A discussion was also held with the Korea Energy Agency (KEA) delegation headed by the president of the agency Kim Chan-Seb on the issues of improving the energy efficiency of thermal power plants, modernizing and improving the energy system. The Korean side expressed the opinion that it would be advisable to replace the equipment on worn-out thermal power plants, and not to build new capacities. The delegation expressed interest in visiting existing power plants in Uzbekistan.

The Ministry of Energy also accepted the delegation of the company Korea Telecom (KT), headed by the senior executive vice president Yun-Young Pak. The Korean side noted the success of the project on implementation of the ASCME system and expressed interest in participating in SCADA projects, as well as the project of energy management systems (EMS). The company is ready to assist in other projects that require introduction of modern energy metering technologies, modernization of relevant infrastructure, as well as in personnel training.