You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience Utility-scale solar is stirring in the region Following a series of competitive auctions PV projects have been commissioned and are under development in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan small-scale renewables is growing but for further market uptake additional incentives should be introduced Solarway founder Abdulla Ushurov at a 60 kW project for a petrol station in Shymkent From pv magazine 10/2022 The Central Asian solar market is on a roll with Kazakhstan the pioneer and regional leader and Uzbekistan not far behind Kazakhstan installed 2.7 GW of solar capacity between 2017 and 2021 according to the new REN21’s UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report added over 1 GW of solar – resulting in it becoming one of the top-30 countries for renewable energy investment was commissioned by the UAE state-owned Masdar in the Navoi region in 2021 was commissioned by French developer Total Eren in the Samarkand region These developments would be impossible without the investment-friendly economic moves that the two countries were undertaking to support the development of renewables regional head of energy for Eurasia at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Those include several competitive auctions on solar and wind capacity in both countries the auctions attracted leading renewable energy developers and achieved some of the lowest tariffs internationally on both wind and solar including $0.0257/kWh on the EBRD-supported 100 MW wind tender last year,” said Ramazanov an auction system replaced feed-in tariffs in 2018 and has already tendered approximately 1.3 GW of new renewable capacity Tariffs have also demonstrated a steady decline with the weighted-average tariff for solar in 2021 lowered by around 63% and for wind by around 38% compared to the feed-in tariffs.” The solar expansion in the region is largely pushed by utility-scale projects backed by international financial institutions the bank is the largest investor in renewable energy the bank financed the construction and operation of 12 PV projects with the total value in EBRD financing of €328 million ($318.5 million) The drivers for the development of renewables in both countries are based on security and diversification Both countries have significant reserves of gas and oil and rely heavily on fossil fuel generation for electricity Uzbekistan’s electricity consumption is expected to double by 2030 and domestic natural gas production alone will not be able to cover the growing demand the countries took different paths to attract investment in renewable energy “Kazakhstan spent about six years on the development of a regulatory framework Since the adoption of the first law on renewables it took about six to seven years for the first serious renewable energy projects to be developed,” said Almas Chukin economist and partner at investment company Visor Kazakhstan Kazakhstan achieved its 2020 target of 3% renewable power generation and raised its 2030 target to 15% developments in Uzbekistan were more ad hoc “Uzbekistan needed to swiftly solve energy supply issues and had no time for the development of a regulatory framework,” he said “Special auctions under the auspices of the government and the ministry of energy were accessible only for ‘giant’ investors.” The advantage of this is speed Uzbekistan declared plans to install 8 GW of renewable energy by 2030 with the aim of achieving a 25% share in electricity generation by 2030 several projects have gone to auction and some were developed through bilateral contracts After winning the first solar auction tender in 2019 the UAE’s Masdar won a tender for a 457 MW project in the Surkhandarya region and two PV projects totaling 400 MW in the Jizzakh and Samarkand regions was initially launched in 2018 during the visit of Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev to France Information about its price of electricity is confidential the press office of Total Eren told pv magazine both countries have seen little progress on distributed “There are no state subsidies or tax breaks for the installation of solar panels The only incentive for legal entities is the possibility to sell excess energy at a market rate,” he said Solarway was founded in 2016 with the adoption of a law on renewable energy feed-in tariffs which allowed the installation of renewables systems whose excess energy could be sold to the grid Most of Solarway’s clients come from the corporate sector but each region has its own tariffs “There is no single electricity tariff in our country with the highest tariffs in the southern regions The trend for annual growth of tariffs is up to 4.5%,” said Ushurov Tariffs based on local currency the tenge have lifted more than 56% since 2016 Private households in the country also increasingly show interest in renewable energy with most installing hybrid inverters with batteries to ensure stable power supply renewable energy provides a solution to households during the periods of electricity shortage and rolling blackouts for several hours in the country.” But solar is still a significant investment because of a lack of state support and an imperfect legislative framework the government of Uzbekistan is interested in developing distributed small-scale renewables and the EBRD currently supports the energy ministry with technical cooperation on developing the respective legal and market frameworks the major challenge faced by all stakeholders is securing the integration of intermittent renewable energy Ramazanov said: “It requires a multidisciplinary approach which includes modernization of grids storage and in selected cases introduction of new balancing gas capacity and regional interconnection.” Therefore the EBRD is financing two investment projects that strengthen the grid in the northwestern part of Uzbekistan whereas the Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC) is a long-standing partner and recipient of the bank’s financing Visor Kazakhstan's Chukin says that further deployment of renewables requires powerful flexible generation which is currently lacking in the country for 925 MW and 240 MW combined-cycle gas-fired plants which will be built with the aim of balancing renewables in the grid International investors have been eyeing the quickly-developing solar markets in Central Asia competition with Chinese investors has been tough for the European companies “Investors from China practice extremely aggressive pricing to secure infrastructure and grid access in the wind and solar sector we do not have access to extremely cheap funds cannot compete with Chinese investors,” said Tobias Schüßler chief operating officer of German-based developer Goldbeck Solar Goldbeck Solar has been active in Kazakhstan since 2017 when first exploring alternative markets during a quiet period in the European solar market That is when a government-backed pilot solar project tied to the World Expo in Kazakhstan’s capital city of Astana with a project developer from the Czech Republic looking for an EPC and an investor A 100 MW solar plant on an area of 160 hectares near the town of Karaganda in northern Kazakhstan was commissioned by the end of 2018 Goldbeck Solar constructed and commissioned the 50 MW Akadyr solar plant in the Karaganda region under the same green tariff later adding another 26 MW by auction in 2020 Chinese companies have largely won in Central Asia due to a range of competitive advantages “Prices for Chinese equipment are way lower costs of equipment from China are in the range of $50 million to $60 million and from Europe $70 million to $80 million The cost of large-size cargo transportation accounts for about 15% of a 100 MW project and the difference reaches $20 million to $30 million,” Chukin says But Chukin says that European companies are strongly represented in terms of technology and knowhow including key technical solutions for transformers Goldbeck's Schüßler says to foster renewables including bureaucratic obstacles for project-related imports local energy suppliers expect daily electricity forecasts and treat PV plants like coal plants despite solar generation functioning as an intermittent source Goldbeck Solar sees other prospects arising with industry which is looking for ways to decrease the carbon footprint of energy-intensive products “We see that the demand for corporate PPAs is increasing More companies are interested in securing cheap electricity from renewable energy directly from a PV system into their own factory whether for hydrogen production or in order to reduce electricity costs There are first inquiries under way as well as customers and banks that are looking into this area” solar energy is already cheaper than the local energy tariffs whereas the bid for the second solar plant Akadyr was KZT 17 More articles from pv magazine Please be mindful of our community standards and website in 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