Uzbekistan’s energy ministry has announced the start of the second stage of a tender for the construction of a wind farm in Beruniy district of Karakalpakstan.

Within the framework of the project, a wind farm with a capacity of 200 MW, as well as a battery system for storing generated energy, are to be built. The winner of the tender is to finance, design, build, operate and maintain the facility.

A request for a quote (RFQ) for the implementation of the project went out a year ago. Nine participants were subsequently asked to submit technical and commercial proposals:

• Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC — Masdar (UAE);
• ACWA Power (Saudi Arabia);
• Concord New Energy Group Limited (Hong Kong);
• Consortium of China Datang Overseas Investment Co. Ltd. (China) and Goldwind International Holdings (HK) Limited (Hong Kong);
• EDF Renouvelables S.A. (France);
• Eksim Enerji Anonim Şirketi (JSC Eksim Enerji) (Turkey);
• ReNew Vyan Shakti Private Limited (India);
• Universal Energy Co. Ltd. (China);
• Voltalia SA (France).

Arabian Gulf Business Insight earlier reported that Uzbekistan's energy sector was attracting billions of dollars from the Gulf as the country plans to produce 35% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Uzbekistan has 330 sunny days on average per year, meaning the potential for producing solar energy is enormous. This has spurred companies such as Saudi-based Acwa Power and UAE-based Masdar to make significant investments in the country's energy sector.