Page 15 - FSUOGMWeek 10 2020

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Uzbekistan proposes public-private partnership project for 1,500-MW gas power plant
Uzbekistan on March 4 invited foreign companies to take part in a project
to construct a 1,500 megawatt (MW) combined cycle gas power plant, the country’s energy ministry said. The Central Asian nation said the project would be
its sixth public-private partnership (PPP) project in the energy sector announced within the last year and envisaged it becoming its largest energy PPP to date.
The combined capacity of Uzbekistan’s existing power plants stands at 12,400 MW - the ex-Soviet country expects its power consumption to grow 9% in 2020. By 2030, electricity consumption in Uzbekistan is expected to stand at twice as much as the current level. New thermal power stations with an aggregate capacity of 7,900 MW are expected to be built over the next 10 years.
Ongoing PPPs in Uzbekistan’s energy sector include the 200 MW solar photovoltaic plant in Samarkand Region, 200 MW in Jizzakh and 200 MW in Sherabad with support from the Asian Development Bank. The newly proposed PPP project will be constructed in Syrdarya Region.
The ministry noted that the project has been pitched to executives from Sumitomo, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Engie, EDF, Hyundai, Kepco, AcwaPower, Marubeni, and other firms that attended a videoconference.
Previous reports on the project suggested that the project would cost $1.1bn.
“The conference was organised by the Ministry of Energy, with the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade, the PPP Development Agency under the Ministry
of Finance together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group,” the statement said. “The IFC
is advising Uzbekistan on the structure and procedure for the tender, which will be a two- part competitive process to select a private partner for a long-term agreement with Uzbekistan’s government on financing, design, construction, operation, maintenance and transfer of the plant.”
bne IntellIiNews March 5 2020
Uzbekistan reduces imports
of crude oil by 59.7% in
2019
Uzbekistan reduced imports of crude oil by 59.7% to 183,400 tonnes in 2019, Trend news agency reported. In monetary terms, crude oil imports fell by 63.3% to $95.8mn, the report noted.
The decline might be partially driven by the Uzbek government’s aims to boost some of its own oil output in the country via multiple projects.
Some of the upcoming plans in the sector this year include an investment of $145mn, in collaboration with Petromaruz, in the southeastern territory of Surkhandarya for the extraction and deep processing of heavy oil, with plans to export processed products. The project will have the capacity to process 250,000 tonnes of oil and produce Euro-5 standard fuels.
Moreover, Russian oil producer Tatneft
said in March 2019 that it intended to expand its activities in Uzbekistan - prior to that, in November 2018, Tatneft said it was negotiating the possibility of a joint venture with Uzbek state-run oil and gas firm Uzbekneftegaz that would develop fields in Pritashkent district.
bne IntellIiNews, March 10 2020
Kaztransgas holds talks
with PetroChina following
force majeure notice
Kazakh natural gas exporter Kaztransgas said on March 7 that it is currently discussing further gas supplies with PetroChina after the Chinese firm issued a force majeure notice to suppliers of piped gas citing the coronavirus outbreak.
Kaztransgas noted gas exports to China still stood at “agreed volumes” for now. Kazakhstan has planned to ship 10bn cubic metres of its own gas to China in 2020 on top of transiting larger volumes of gas from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The three Central Asian nations ship their gas to China via the Central Asia- China gas pipeline.
PetroChina has suspended some natural gas imports, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments and natural gas imported through pipelines, amid the combined effect of a seasonal plunge in gas demand and the plunge in consumption due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Uzbek and Turkmen suppliers have so far made no comments on PetroChina’s move.
bne IntellIiNews, March 10 2020
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