TASHKENT, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan and the Abu Dhabi-headquartered energy company Masdar have decided to triple the capacity of the country's largest wind power plant under construction, the Uzbek Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade said Friday.
The two sides signed an agreement on Thursday to increase the design capacity of the power plant located in the Zarafshon district of the central Navoi region from initial 500 MW to 1.5 GW, it said.
The initial project cost of 600 million U.S. dollars will also increase accordingly, and the partners will attract 1.8 billion dollars foreign direct investment.
The wind farm is expected to be put into commercial operation by the end of 2024 and generate enough electricity to supply 1.5 million homes.
Uzbekistan and Masdar will jointly build another 100-MW solar power plant in the Navoi region.
Last year, Uzbekistan announced a national Low-Carbon Energy Strategy, under which it plans to deploy up to 30 GW of electricity using solar, hydro, wind and nuclear energy. Enditem