Abu Dhabi’s Masdar plans to build what it says will be Central Asia’s largest wind power project after tripling to 1.5GW an agreement with the government of Uzbekistan.

Masdar in June last year agreed to develop, build and operate a 500MW facility in Uzbekistan’s Navoi region, and on Friday said it expects to bring that into operation by 2024 and then add up to 1GW more.

Uzbekistan is aiming to meet a quarter of its power needs from renewables by 2030, with about 3GW coming from wind.

Masdar is already building a 100MW PV plant in the Navoi region, after winning in a solar tender.

Suhail Al Mazrouei, the UAE’s minister of energy and Infrastructure, said: “Today’s landmark agreement will enhance co-operation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates in the field of renewable energy.

“We look forward to strengthening our relationship with Uzbekistan further by developing more clean energy projects with them in future.”

The Abu Dhabi group, backed by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, has emerged as one of the Middle East region’s most active renewables players globally.

In March Masdar announced a link with Malaysian oil & gas player Petronas that will see the pair look for joint opportunities in utility-scale renewable energy, including Asian offshore wind and the fast-emerging floating solar sector.

Masdar last year took a 50% stake with EDF in a 1.6GW wind, solar and storage portfolio in the US.

Wind

Masdar plans Central Asia's largest wind farm with 1.5GW megaproject in Uzbekistan