Syrdarya-2 Power Plant Will Start Strengthening Uzbekistan's Power System This Winter — EDF
French EDF is completing the construction of "Syrdarya-2" with a capacity of 1,600 MW. According to the company's vice president, the plant will begin strengthening the power system as early as this coming winter. Construction of the Surkhandarya CCGT of the same capacity is 75% complete. A wind power plant project near Bukhara was also announced.
Syrdarya-2 Power Plant to Begin Strengthening Uzbekistan's Power Grid This Winter — EDF
The 1,600 MW Syrdarya-2 combined-cycle power plant will begin supporting Uzbekistan's power grid this coming winter.
This was announced by Cédric Le Bouc, Senior Executive Vice President for Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia at France's EDF, during a meeting between President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and fuel and energy sector investors on October 16.
"We are currently completing the construction of the 1,600 MW Syrdarya-2 combined-cycle power plant. Already in this winter season, this plant will begin strengthening the country's energy system," he said in a report broadcast by the Uzbekistan 24 TV channel.
Le Bouc also shared that, together with partners Siemens and Nebras, 75% of the construction work on the 1,600 MW Surkhandarya combined-cycle power plant has been completed.
In addition, EDF's Vice President announced the signing of a protocol to implement a 500 MW wind power project near Bukhara in partnership with Eolus. The project also includes the creation of an energy storage system.
EDF is also expressing interest in participating in the modernization of Uzbekistan's power networks under a public-private partnership framework.
"EDF has extensive experience in electricity transmission and distribution. We are interested in cooperating with Uzbekistan on modernizing the power grids based on public-private partnerships," Le Bouc noted.
He also stated a readiness to expand cooperation in training specialists for the energy sector, emphasizing that the company already has joint projects in this direction.
Syrdarya-2 is located in the Bayaut District of the Syrdarya Region. The project is being implemented by a consortium comprising France's EDF, Qatar's Nebras Power, and Japan's Sojitz and Kyuden, which won an international tender in November 2021. According to data published at the launch of the project, the plant's capacity is 1,573 MW, with a project cost of $900 million.
The estimated annual output of the plant is 13 billion kWh. Thanks to an efficiency rate of 61.7%, it is expected to save 1.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
On September 25, an emergency shutdown of 1,600 MW of capacity occurred at the plant during test commissioning operations. The triggering of emergency automation caused power outages in several regions. Reserve capacity from other power plants and energy storage systems were deployed to restore the supply.
As a reminder, during a meeting on July 27, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev criticized the choice of site for the construction of the combined-cycle power plant in the Surkhandarya Region. According to him, due to the incorrect location of the facility, an additional $300 million will be required to lay gas pipelines.
Furthermore, responsible officials did not study the terms of the contract with the project initiator thoroughly enough, creating a risk of new expenses. The President instructed that the terms of the contract be reviewed.
As Gazeta reported, this presumably referred to the approximately 1.6 GW capacity plant in the Angor District, implemented by SCE-Quvvat. China's POWERCHINA is acting as the general contractor for the construction. Initially, Nebras Power, Stone City Energy, Siemens Energy, and EDF were listed among the project participants.