Uzbekistan today announced the winning bidder of the public-private partnerships (PPPs) for two photovoltaic solar parks in the Jizzakh and Samarkand regions. These PPPs, tendered under the World Bank Group’s Scaling Solar program, will soon add more than 400 megawatts of clean and renewable energy to the country’s energy mix.

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar) was awarded the project in the Samarkand region with a bid to supply solar power at 1.791 US cents per kilowatt hour.

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar) was awarded the project in the Jizzakh region with a bid to supply solar power at 1.823 US cents per kilowatt hour.

As transaction adviser, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, helped the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Energy design and tender the PPPs, which attracted seven bids for the Jizzakh site and six proposals for the Samarkand site.

“The project is part of an effort by the government of Uzbekistan to increase renewable energy generation through the development of privately financed and operated renewable energy projects, while aiming to develop up to 5 gigawatts of solar power by 2030,” said Shukhrat Vafaev, Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Chairman of the Tender Committee. “I appreciate IFC’s ongoing support to the government of Uzbekistan in implementing PPPs that bring foreign direct investment to the country’s energy sector and help accelerate Uzbekistan’s development and economic growth.”

Since 2018, together with the World Bank, IFC has been advising the government on how to open up the power sector to private investments by implementing PPP projects that can attract foreign capital in an efficient and transparent manner. IFC helped the government with the first solar tender in Uzbekistan, which resulted in competitive renewable energy prices. IFC also provided long-term debt financing to the first private sector led 100 MW solar power plant, which is being built in the Navoi region. At the same time, the World Bank has been working closely with the government on key policy issues in the energy sector.

“IFC’s growing partnership with Uzbekistan in renewables will help bring clean and sustainable energy to the Uzbek people at competitive prices,” said Wiebke Schloemer, IFC Director for Europe and Central Asia. She added, “Attracting world-class investors through these PPP tenders bolsters the government’s efforts to diversify the country’s energy mix and confirms the effectiveness of competitive and transparent procurement processes.”

The program is being implemented in partnership with the government of Germany and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland SECO.