Six energy investment agreements worth a combined US$4.7 billion were signed at an open dialogue between President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and investors in the fuel and energy sector, the president announced on 16 October. The projects are expected to add 3,000 MW of generation capacity and 400 MW of energy storage capacity to the national grid.
Alongside the new agreements, Mirziyoyev announced the creation of an Investors’ Council for the fuel and energy sector, to be chaired by Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the Presidential Administration. The council will be responsible for resolving problems investors encounter at every stage of project implementation, from land allocation through to commissioning — a direct response to complaints raised at the dialogue by companies including ACWA, Vision Invest, DataVolt, Voltalia and EDF.
Tenders for a further six solar and wind power projects with a combined capacity of 2,200 MW are to be announced in the near future, the president said, inviting investors to participate.
From Isolated Plants to a Single System
The new agreements mark a deliberate shift in how the state structures energy development. During the initial phase of renewable expansion, projects were largely sited in locations proposed by investors. While this approach attracted substantial capital, it led to concentrations of generation capacity in certain areas, raising the cost of transmitting electricity to other regions. Mirziyoyev said the country now required not individual power plants but a unified, interconnected energy system.
Under the revised framework, regional capacity requirements will be determined in advance by the state, and prepared projects will be offered through open competitive tender. Before each tender, information on land plots, grid connection points and schedules, electricity procurement conditions and payment terms will be published. A recently signed presidential decree formally separates the roles of the state and private businesses in the sector, with open competition, transparent rules and consistent fulfilment of agreed terms set as the governing principles.
The Ferghana Valley regions — Ferghana, Andijan and Namangan — currently rely in part on electricity generated elsewhere in the country. The development of new industrial zones and large enterprises in those regions is expected to place additional pressure on the grid, a challenge the new framework is designed to address proactively.
National Energy Master Plan and Grid Investment
The country will publish its first National Energy Master Plan covering the period through 2050. A grid connection opportunities map is scheduled for release by 1 March next year, with the complete master plan to follow by 1 July. The documents will identify regions where electricity demand is forecast to grow, the infrastructure required to meet that demand, and locations where new generation facilities can operate most efficiently — intended to give investors a basis for long-term planning.
More than US$2 billion has been directed to electricity grid modernisation over the past five years. By 2030, the government plans to build 5,000 kilometres of new power lines and 16 major substations, while expanding energy storage capacity to 4.5 GW. A significant share of this infrastructure is planned for Karakalpakstan and the Bukhara, Jizzakh, Samarkand, Namangan, Kashkadarya and Tashkent regions.
The overall capacity target is 22,000 MW of new generation by 2030, with annual electricity production expected to exceed 129 billion kWh and renewables targeted to account for 54% of total generation — up from the current 31%. Installed renewable capacity has already reached 11.1 GW, and per capita electricity production has risen by 28% to 2,300 kWh over the past decade.
Decade of Reform: US$35 Billion Attracted
The announcements build on a decade of market opening. Over that period, the energy sector has attracted US$35 billion in investment and the number of partner countries has grown from two or three to more than ten. The share of renewables in total generation has risen to 31%, driven by the expansion of solar, wind and hydropower capacity.
Going forward, priority will be given to integrated projects that combine generation, energy storage and electricity networks. The government also plans to cooperate with investors on pumped-storage hydropower plants designed for long-term energy storage, and to introduce mechanisms allowing renewable energy producers to generate additional revenue through certificates and carbon credits.
Localisation and Manufacturing
The president highlighted the domestic manufacturing opportunity created by the scale of planned investment. Energy projects require large quantities of copper products, cables, transformers, metal structures and construction materials, and Mirziyoyev said local manufacturers were capable of competing on quality, price and standards compliance.
Chinese company China Energy used locally manufactured products for nearly 40% of the equipment and materials involved in building eight energy storage facilities, with a value of approximately US$200 million. Across all energy sector investment projects last year, the combined value of locally sourced goods and services reached US$740 million. The president said this figure could be increased threefold to fourfold.
Uzbekistan currently imports significant volumes of high-voltage equipment, energy storage system control modules and wind turbine components. Twelve potential localisation projects with a combined value of US$850 million have been prepared to establish domestic production of these items. A special industrial zone with tax and customs incentives will also be established in the Farish district of Jizzakh region to manufacture products required for the nuclear power plant under construction there.
Distribution, Gas and Data Centres
Private sector participation in electricity distribution networks is to be expanded. An approach piloted in Samarkand is expected to be extended to the Jizzakh and Tashkent regions, with the stated aim of reducing electricity losses and improving service quality.
In the liquefied petroleum gas sector, which serves around 3.8 million households and was previously a state monopoly, market mechanisms are being introduced. A pilot project involving private businesses has been launched in the Andijan region, and the government plans to transfer liquefied gas supplies to the private sector nationwide next year. Mirziyoyev stressed that uninterrupted supply, safety and service quality must remain priorities throughout the transition.
Artificial intelligence technologies and data centres were identified as a rapidly growing source of electricity demand. Sites for these facilities will be selected in advance based on land availability, grid connection opportunities and access to renewable energy. Each major data centre project will be required to incorporate primary and backup power supplies, energy storage systems and cooling infrastructure, with investors expected to adopt solutions that use electricity and water efficiently.
Oil, Gas and Export Ambitions
In the oil and gas sector, exploration is under way in six investment blocks in the Ustyurt region in cooperation with Azerbaijan’s SOCAR and British company BP. A further 128 blocks in other regions have been prepared for presentation to foreign partners, with preliminary estimates putting their combined resources at 5.8 trillion cubic metres of natural gas and 560 million tonnes of liquid hydrocarbons.
The Kashkadarya region’s synthetic liquid fuel production complex currently produces up to 1.5 million tonnes of fuel and other products annually. Mirziyoyev also highlighted the need to implement a methanol-to-olefins project in the Bukhara region for the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and PET products, alongside scheduled modernisation of the Bukhara and Ferghana oil refineries.
Beyond the domestic market, a project to supply renewable electricity to Europe across the Caspian Sea — in cooperation with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan — is described as moving towards practical implementation. Afghanistan and South Asian markets have also been identified as potential export destinations.
Workforce and Tax Incentives
Saudi company ACWA is equipping technical colleges in Karakalpakstan and the Bukhara and Syrdarya regions and training hundreds of young specialists annually in energy-related fields. Mirziyoyev called on other investors to participate in specialist training and said the government was prepared to transfer local technical colleges to investor management for this purpose. From the new academic year, domestic universities will increase admission quotas for energy programmes, and 50 young people will receive state grants annually to study at leading universities abroad.
On the regulatory side, the Tax Code is to be amended to eliminate differing interpretations of existing 10-year land and property tax exemptions for energy storage projects. The revision will explicitly confirm that the exemptions cover not only battery or solar panel sites but also the associated substations, control buildings and supporting infrastructure.
