TAQA to invest over $3bn in Uzbekistan’s power sector

Uzbekistan’s power sector is set to receive a major boost after the UAE-based utilities firm Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. announced plans to invest over $3 billion in new and existing power plants.

Also known as TAQA, the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange-listed company has signed a strategic partnership with the Uzbek government to explore projects and investment opportunities within the Central Asian country’s energy sector, the company said in a press release.

The strategic collaboration includes proposals for a greenfield-combined cycle power plant with a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts. The new project is set to be developed adjacent to the existing Talimarjan power complex where TAQA is already working on two gas-fired power plants.

Under this new partnership, TAQA expects to be responsible for all the work related to plant design, financing, engineering, and procurement.

The firm is also anticipated to be held accountable for outsourcing, testing, ownership, and operation.

TAQA also sealed agreements with a number of existing power plants and other new gas-fired plants with a total capacity of more than 3 GW.

“By working together, we can accelerate the sustainable development of the electricity sector in the country as well as strengthen the bonds of the strong relationship between our two countries,” said Group CEO and Managing Director at TAQA Jasim Husain Thabet.

The gas firm also secured deals regarding electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure in the country.

“This new partnership and the proposed projects build on the cooperation opportunities that exist today between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the UAE as well as our common vision to support the energy sector and invest in sustainable and reliable energy services,” Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade for Uzbekistan Shukhrat Vafaev said in a statement.

These agreements come after Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power earlier this month inked deals valued at over $120 million for energy projects in Uzbekistan, in what was a further strengthening of bilateral energy relations between the Kingdom and the country.

In April, ACWA Power announced it will develop two wind power plants in Uzbekistan financed by loans of $174 million from the Asian Development Bank.

This deal followed agreements worth $2.5 billion signed with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan to develop three solar photovoltaic projects in the Tashkent, Bukhara, and Samarkand regions of the country.