Uzbekistan signs investment deal for gas-fired TPP
Uzbekistan's energy ministry has signed investment and power-purchase deals with a Dutch firm called Stone City Energy for the construction of a 1,560-MW thermal power plant (TPP) in the Surkhandarya region.
The Surkhandarya plant is due to go live by the end of 2024. Its construction is slated to cost $1.2bn. Stone Hill will design, finance, build, commission, operate and manage the TPP for 25 years. Its steam and gas units will be supplied by Germany's Siemens.
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"The agreements signed with Stone City Energy are yet another example of Uzbekistan working with international partners for the benefit of the country," Uzbek energy minister Alisher Sultanov said. "Due to the country’s economic growth, and the growing needs of the population, we need to fulfil future energy demand. We look forward to working closely with Stone City in the years to come."
Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power broke ground on another 1.5-GW gas-fired plant in the Sirdarya region in January, and that project obtained $50mn in financing from OPEC last week.
Stone Hill Energy is a Rotterdam-headquartered special purpose company that was set up in May 2019 to "serve as a base for the consortium that will finance, project, construct and operate combined cycle gas turbine power plants and distribution in Uzbekistan," according to its website.
Central Asia's most populous nation is looking to expand its electricity generation to spur economic growth and meet a predicted 110bn kWh in annual demand by 2030. It wants to scale up its gas and renewable power capacity, and has also mooted building a nuclear power plant.