Uzbekistan Signs, Then Promises More

Uzbekistan signed six energy agreements worth $4.7 billion covering 3,000 megawatts of new generation and 400 megawatts of storage, while President Shavkat Mirziyoyev also set out plans for a second and third nuclear power plant.

The signed part is clear enough. According to the Uzbek presidency, the agreements were concluded during talks in Tashkent and involve companies including ACWA Power, Saudi Tabreed, AMEA Power, Toyota Tsusho, Sojitz, EDF, Nebras Power, StorEn and CRE International, Euronews reported.

The nuclear expansion is at a different stage. Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan had “plans” for two additional plants and that talks with potential investors in the second project were scheduled, but no partners, costs or timetable were announced for either project. That matters. A signed power deal changes an investment pipeline; a presidential outline without financing or contractors does not yet do the same.

Mirziyoyev also used the announcement to admit a policy failure inside Uzbekistan’s energy buildout. He said earlier investment rules let developers choose plant locations, concentrating generation in some areas and raising transmission costs elsewhere. The government now says future projects will go through competitive tenders with grid connections and power-purchase terms disclosed in advance.

That is not a technical footnote. It is an attempt to move authority back from piecemeal project bargaining to system planning. Uzbekistan says its first National Energy Master Plan, covering the period to 2050, is due by July 2027, with a grid connection map expected in March. It is also preparing six separate solar and wind tenders totalling 2,200 MW.

The scale of the wider ambition is large: by 2030, the government says it wants to add 22 GW of generation, build 5,000 kilometres of power lines and 16 substations, and lift storage capacity to 4.5 GW. It is targeting annual electricity output above 129 billion kWh, with renewables including hydropower reaching 54% of generation, from 31% at present.

Foreign investors, for their part, did not pretend the work was finished. Executives cited the need for policy stability and capital-market reform, while Mirziyoyev himself acknowledged “bureaucracy and corruption”. A new Energy Investors’ Council chaired by Saida Mirziyoyeva is supposed to address obstacles including land allocation and grid connections.

Uzbekistan has announced both money and ambition. Only one of those has been itemised.