Page 13 - FSUOGM Week 04 2021

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

Uzbekistan starts work

on 1.5-GW gas plant

UZBEKISTAN UZBEKISTAN has broken ground on a 1.5-GW plans efficiently, we will only attract more invest-
combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power ment to Uzbekistan, and improve our nations’
Uzbekistan is looking plant in its eastern Sirdarya region, the Uzbek energy status.”
to expand gas-fired energy ministry reported on January 25. The ground-breaking ceremony was also
generation and make Central Asia’s most populous nation wants to attended by Saudi Investment Minister Khalid
it more efficient to expand its gas-fired generation capacity to meet Al-Falih.
meet a doubling of growing demand and drive economic growth. Uzbekistan projects its electricity needs to
power demand within a The Sirdarya facility will meet 15% of Uzbek more than double by 2030 to 110bn kWh. To
decade. power demand once fired up, the ministry said. meet this growth, it is looking to expand gener-
Furthermore, it boasts an efficiency rate of over ation capacity from 12.9 GW and to 29.3 GW,
60%, using only half as much gas as Uzbekistan’s while also cutting gas consumption by making
older stations to produce the same amount of plants more efficient.
power. Gas accounts for most power in Uzbekistan.
Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power is leading con- The government is aiming to decommission 6.4
struction of the $1.2bn plant along with 1 GW of GW of older gas-based capacity that is wasteful
wind power capacity in the Bukhara and Navoi and expensive to run over the next decade, while
regions. The company has signed power pur- building or modernising a further 15.6 GW.
chase and investment contracts covering these Uzbekistan is also looking to reduce gas
wind projects, and has also entered into a pact transmission losses by overhauling its Sovi-
with Uzbekistan’s energy ministry and US firm et-era pipeline system, and consume more gas
Air Products to develop other renewables and domestically rather than exporting it to China
hydrogen. and Russia.
“Today’s milestones show that we are deliv- The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
ering on our promises. Enhancing Uzbekistan’s led China to curtail gas supplies from overseas,
clean energy capacity involves many develop- causing Uzbek gas export revenues to slump by
mental and investment targets to be hit, over a almost 80% to $478mn in 2020, the country’s
period of time,” Uzbek Energy Minister Alisher state statistics committee reported on January
Sultanov said in a statement. “By executing our 22.™

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