Uzbekistan, which borders large oil and gas producers Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, has substantial hydrocarbon reserves but is not a massive developer yet. Future upstream developments could help source domestic natural gas for power generation, which would lower electricity costs and help facility growth of energy-intensive industries.
The Talimarjan Power Complex, situated some 440km southwest of Tashkent, was built at a cost of $819 million and commissioned in 2004 as an 800 MW gas-fired unit. In 2018, the combined-cycle plant was expanded by two additional 450 MW gas turbines which pushed total capacity to 1,700 MW.
Now, the Mubadala accord with JSC is looking to further expand of the CCGT. Commenting on the agreement, Mubadala’s utilities director, Mohammed Alhuraimel Alshamsi, said: “The Talimarjan Power Complex comprises of 1.7GW of existing gas-fired conventional power, with a plan to further expand the complex to accommodate the growing power demand of the nation.”
Mubadala, CEO Khaled Al-Qubais hailed the deal as one of the first privatizations in Uzbekistan’s conventional power generation sector utilizing the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. “We hope this is the first of many partnerships with the Republic,” he said.