During President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s trip to the Khorezm province, a groundbreaking ceremony for a 100 MW photovoltaic plant project by French Voltalia took place on Thursday, the president’s press said.

At the ceremony, the president reiterated the goal of bringing the green energy’s share in Uzbekistan’s electricity generation to 15% this year, and up to 40% by 2030.

The Solar Home program was also launched last year, aimed at stimulating public interest in alternative energy. It stipulates the provision of soft loans and tax preferences to stimulate the use of solar energy by the public, as well as the introduction of a system of guaranteed government purchase of surplus power.

Under this program in Khorezm, more than 2,000 households and 855 businesses installed solar panels with a capacity of 15 MW, producing 320 thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity in excess of the need, which was purchased by the state.

The Voltalia’s plant is the first such large project in Khorezm, which will produce 254 million kilowatt-hours of green energy a year, which will cover 11% of the province's annual electricity consumption. It is planned to connect the station to the network by the end of the year.

The project implementation will increase the volume of electricity generation in Khorezm by 30% - up to 424 MW. This will fully satisfy the annual demand of the Tuprakkala province of 135 million kilowatt-hours.

Meanwhile, it will make it possible to transfer 40% of excess energy to neighboring areas, providing stable electricity supply to 85 thousand households.

The station will help save 76 million cubic meters of natural gas and prevent the release of 106 thousand tons of harmful substances into the atmosphere.

This project will be the first to use the experience of agrovoltaics, which combines energy production and agriculture on one site, allowing crops to be grown under solar panels, the statement said.

Expressing gratitude to the investor and engineers, the head of state emphasized that such innovative projects strengthen multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and France.

“I congratulate you all on commissioning of the new capacities, which will breathe new life into the economy not only of the Khorezm province, but also of our entire country,” the president said.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev also held talksa meeting with Voltalia CEO Sébastien Clerc, and discussed the ways to expand the ties. The head of state supported plans to expand cooperation projects with the company, including the organization of battery production in Khorezm province and the construction of a hybrid power plant in the Bukhara province.