Russia vowed to build two pumped storage power plants on lakes in Uzbekistan, the Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on May 27 at the talks with the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
“There are good prospects for cooperation in hydropower. “RusHydro is assisting Uzbekistan in creating flexible generation capacities that will help stabilize the country’s energy balance and ensure uninterrupted operation of the entire energy system of Uzbekistan,” he said.
According to him, “on the agenda are two large projects for the construction of pumped storage power plants on lakes Aydarkul and Karateren” with a total capacity of 1 GW.
It is noteworthy that in July last year, the chief of Uzbekhydroenergo Abdugani Sanginov met with executives of the China Southern Power Grid, with a memorandum of understanding signed for three hydroelectric power plants projects with a total capacity of 820 MW, among which was Karateren (500 MW).
The companies also signed an agreement on the joint construction of the Yuqori Pskem pumped storage power plant (PSPP). A pumped storage power plant generates power, like a conventional hydroelectric power station, by falling water from the upper basin to the lower one. While, the pumped storage power plant pumps already “spent” water from the lower pool to the upper one, after which the cycle is repeated.
In November 2023, the President of Uzbekistan instructed the development of a five-year program for commissioning hydroelectric power stations with a total capacity of 6000 MW, without waiting until 2030, and to attract large foreign energy companies on the basis of private partnership
