Masdar | Samarkand Solar Project

Overview

In July 2021, Masdar signed an agreement with the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and JSC National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan to design, finance, build and operate a 220 megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar PV project in the Samarkand Region.

As lead transaction advisor, the International Finance Corporation assisted the Government of Uzbekistan to structure the projects and organize the selection of the winning bidder through an open tender process, under its Scaling Solar program.

In addition to the Samarkand Solar Project, Masdar is further expanding its footprint in the Republic of Uzbekistan through the development of two utility-scale solar PV projects located in the Surkhandarya and Jizzakh regions with a generating capacity of 457MW and 220MW respectively.

These projects add to Masdar’s successful track record in the country, building from the 100 MW Nur Navoi Solar Project that achieved commercial operations in August 2021 and the 500MW Zarafshan Wind Farm, which achieved financial close in September 2022.

The projects also support Uzbekistan’s national goal of developing 7 gigawatts (GW) of solar and 5GW of wind capacity by 2030.

A first revision of the E&S documents were published on 25 December 2022, they were revised on 17 January 2023 with updates to the assessment of alternatives and biodiversity. After the 30 day disclosure and consultation period as outlined in the Stakeholder Engagement Plan, final documents will be prepared accounting for feedback and published thereafter.