Private Investor Pens Deal for New Uzbek TPP
Cyprus-registered Altmax, part-owned by Russian businessman Andrei Filatov, has signed a memorandum with Uzbekistan's energy ministry on the construction of 1.5-GW gas-fired thermal power plant (TPP), the company said on June 24 in a statement shared with Russian press.
The project is worth $1.8bn, Altmax said, and will be built at the 25 Years of Independence gas field, where Altmax is a major shareholder. In a statement, Filatov said Russian banks VTB and Gazprombank were interested in investing in the project.
"The construction of additional energy capacities is necessary not only for the development of local industry and agriculture, but also has serious export prospects: Afghanistan is located nearby, which, obviously, as civilian life is restored, will need electricity," Filatov said. "I hope that once the feasibility study is completed, together with the government of Uzbekistan, we will be able to sign binding agreements and launch the project with the support of leading Russian banks such as VTB and Gazprombank."
Altmax partnered with Gazprom affiliate Gas Project Development Central Asia and Uzbekistan's Uzbekneftegaz in late 2017 to develop 25 Years of Independence. At the time, the partners estimated that the field would come on stream in 2023 and flow 5bn m3/yr of gas.
Uzbekistan's energy ministry has estimated that energy demand will almost double by 2030, necessitating a more than doubling of generation capacity from 12.9 to 29.3 GW. As part of this plan, 15.6 GW of TPP capacity are to be built or modernised, while 6.4 GW of obsolete capacity will be decommissioned.