The Uzbekistan government and the French renewable energy business Voltalia have agreed to jointly build renewable energy projects with a combined output of between 400 MW and 500 MW. As part of the agreement, 60 MW/240 MWh of battery storage will be built along with 200 MW of solar and 200 MW of wind capacity. The Voltalia and the Uzbek Ministry of Energy will select the project sites collaboratively. The cluster will be able to generate 1 TWh of clean energy annually, which will be sufficient to supply more than 800,000 people with their energy needs.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the proposed projects, and development on them is scheduled to begin in 2026. The partnership between the Uzbek Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade (MIFT) and Voltalia is a three-way agreement. The Uzbek government intends to improve the country’s energy supplies and reach 8 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2026, with a further increase to 12 GW by 2030.
In June 2022, Voltalia announced plans to construct a solar PV cluster with a capacity of more than 1.5 GW in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Voltalia, located in the Arinos region, is developing a solar cluster for its own use as well as for third parties. The company already formed alliances with a number of companies, including CTG Brasil, which would purchase a significant portion of the solar sites once the development phase is completed.
REGlobal’s Views: The solar, wind and storage cluster project is the first project of its kind to be constructed in Uzbekistan. Adding storage along with a combination of solar and wind power will ensure stable energy generation and prevent resource intermittencies from impacting power supply.
