Uzbekistan signs major energy agreements

Uzbekistan signed number of major energy agreements as part of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Energy Investment Forum, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

A 10-year ‘take-or-pay’ contract was agreed for the supply of electricity from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan through the Surkhan-Puli-Khumri power transmission line. This line is currently under construction between National Electric Grids of Uzbekistan (NEG) and Afghanistan’s national power utility company Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS). The initial volume of supplies will be 4.2bn kWh, rising to 6bn kWh.

The Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan also agreed on a public-private partnership with the Saudi Arabia-headquartered company ACWA Power, for the construction of thermal power plants with a capacity of 1,250 MW and wind power plants with a capacity of up to 1,000 MW.

Meanwhile, Uzbekneftegaz agreed on a roadmap with US-based Air Products and Chemicals, setting out their proposed participation in a synthetic liquid fuel production project based on purified methane from the Shurtan GTL processing plant, and the implementation of a chemical construction project in Yangiyer, in conjunction with Uzkimyosanoat, to produce ammonia and urea.