Ahead of the visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Saudi Arabia, the embassy of Uzbekistan in Riyadh expected a rapid and dynamic development of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Cooperation is expected in the fields of energy, information technology, telecommunications, health, biotechnology and agriculture, in addition to forestry, building materials, light industries, chemical and petrochemicals, tourism, culture, sports, science, education and environmental protection.
The government of Uzbekistan seeks to cooperate in the programs of the Saudi Vision 2030, with the aim of introducing reforms, liberalizing the economy, and creating an attractive climate for investments.
A number of bilateral energy agreements have been signed in efforts to achieve national renewable energy goals that include raising the total renewable energy generation capacity to 30% by 2030.
The Saudi ACWA Power Company, under the agreements signed between the two parties, undertakes the implementation, development, construction and operation of many projects, including a wind energy project with a production capacity of 1,500 megawatts in the Uzbek region of Karakalpakstan. The project represents one of the largest wind power plants in the world.
In addition, ACWA Power signed the agreement for the Nukus 100 MW wind farm project, which is the first renewable energy project to be implemented in a public-private partnership in Uzbekistan.
ACWA Power and the Uzbek Ministry of Energy signed a 25-year power purchase agreement and an investment agreement with a total value of $1.2 billion to develop, build and operate a combined cycle gas turbine power plant in Shirin, Syrdarya, with expectations that these projects would contribute to raising the total generation capacity of renewable energy in the country to 30 percent.
