Abu Dhabi renewables firm Masdar signed a power purchase agreement on 8 November for a 100MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant to be built in the Navoi region of southwest Uzbekistan. The utility-scale plant will be Uzbekistan’s first and part of a plan to develop 5GW of renewables capacity by 2030, including 1GW of solar PV. Masdar says construction will start in the second quarter of 2020, with commissioning slated for 2Q 2021.

Masdar initially developed domestic renewables projects, but has increasingly taken on overseas projects. Before the Uzbek contract Masdar was already active in 25 countries and now has over 4GW of gross renewables capacity installed or under development worldwide (MEES, 1 March). (CONTINUED - 203 WORDS)