Voltalia, an international player in renewable energies, with extensive experience in multi-energy sites, announces a co-development partnership for a renewable and adaptable electricity cluster comprising solar, wind and battery storage capacities with a total output of between 400 and 500 megawatts.
On the sidelines of President Mirziyoyev's official visit to France, the Uzbek government and Voltalia signed, in the presence of the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), a partnership agreement for the co-development of an electricity cluster, the first of its kind in Central Asia. It will promote the uptake of renewable energy and reduce congestion on the electricity grid.
The installed capacity will be between 400 and 500 megawatts, which will be split around:
- 200 megawatts of solar,
- 200 megawatts of wind and
- 60 megawatts / 240 megawatt-hours of battery storage.
The site will be selected jointly by Voltalia and the Uzbek Ministry of Energy. Commissioning is planned from 2026.
The cluster will produce more than one terawatt-hour annually, covering the electricity needs of more than 800,000 inhabitants and avoiding the emission of at least 500,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.
The partnership is tripartite between the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade (MIFT) and Voltalia. The Uzbek government wants to increase the country's energy independence. To ensure its security and growth, Uzbekistan is aiming for 8 gigawatts of renewable capacity by 2026 and 12 gigawatts by 2030.
Voltalia's international development teams, based in Paris, are monitoring the Uzbek market in the context of Voltalia's partnership with one of its shareholders, the EBRD. Voltalia participated in a first wind tender in 2021 and is currently participating in another solar tender sponsored by the IFC (World Bank Group).
In the presence of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Sébastien Clerc, CEO of Voltalia declared: "We are particularly proud to support the energy transition in Uzbekistan. This cluster project, which combines three technologies, is a first in the region. We want Uzbekistan to benefit from our long experience in multi-energy clusters, which comes from very large projects, such as Serra Branca in Brazil (wind and solar) or smaller ones, such as Toco in French Guiana (solar and storage)".
