The central Asian nation and the International Finance Corporation are seeking proposals for two 200 MW solar parks planned in the Samarkand and Jizzakh regions. The projects will be awarded 25-year power purchase agreements.

Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy and World Bank private sector arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have issued a request for expressions of interest for the development and construction of two 200 MW solar parks.

A first plant is planned in the Kattakurgan district in the Samarkand region and a second is expected to be located in the Gallaorol district in the region of Jizzakh.

Developers have until March 21 to submit expressions of interest.

Public-private

The projects, part of a plan to roll-out as much as 900 MW of solar generation capacity using public-private partnerships, will be awarded 25-year power purchase agreements.

The IFC, a transaction adviser in the program, helped the Uzbek government design and tender its first public-private partnership, which attracted 11 pre-qualified developers and five bids.

The Ministry of Energy has also issued a request for expressions of interest for a 200 MW solar park in Sherabad, in Surkhandarya province this month. That tender is being carried out with the support of the Asian Development Bank as transaction advisor. The Sherabad project is part of a 1 GW solar program devised by the government and the development lender.