UAE - Mubasher: Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), has opened the 100-megawatt Nur Navoi Solar Project, Uzbekistan's first financed independent power producer (IPP) solar project.
The solar project has made its first contribution to Uzbekistan's renewable energy targets, and upon its full operation, the plant will power 31,000 households, according to a press release on Sunday.
In 2019, Masdar entered into agreements with the government of Uzbekistan and the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan (NEGU) to design, finance, build, own, and operate the solar plant.
Hence, Masdar formed Nur Navoi Solar FE as the local project company to deliver and operate the first Masdar project to begin operations in Uzbekistan over a 25-year period.
The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, said: "In the next five years, we plan to increase our economy's growth rate by 1.5 times, and bring GDP to at least $100 billion. Thousands of new industrial enterprises, both medium and large will be launched, and electricity demand is set to reach 100 billion kilowatt-hours - 30 billion more than now."
The CEO of Masdar, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, commented: "I look forward to continuing our highly successful collaboration with the Government of Uzbekistan, through our strong portfolio of wind and solar projects with a total capacity of around 2.5 GW in the country, a key strategic investment destination for Masdar."
