Total Eren, a leading renewable energy Independent Power Producer (“IPP”) based in Paris, is pleased to announce it has successfully signed the financing documentation related to its solar photovoltaic (“PV”) project named “Tutly” (100 MWac1). The
loanstotaling EUR 87.4 M are provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and Proparco, an affiliate of the French Development Agency (AFD). The construction of the solar farm, located in the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan, has already started.
Located about a hundred kilometers East of the city of Samarkand, the Tutly solar farm was entirely developed by Total Eren. It is one of the first renewable energy projects in Uzbekistan and one of the first Independent Power Producer (“IPP”) projects to be built in the country. The development phase has been completed in a record time thanks to a unique cooperation and support from the Uzbek authorities.
The signing of the financial documentation was held on May 10th, 2021 in Tashkent, during the visit of Mr. Franck Riester, French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, and in the presence of Mr. Sardor Umurzakov, Deputy-Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, Mrs. Fabienne Demol, EVP and Global Head of Business Development of Total Eren, Mr. Stéphane Froissardey, Proparco Regional Director for Turkey, Caucasus, Balkans, and Central Asia, Mr. Vadim Sinitsa, EBRD Principal Banker and operation leader on the project, and
Mr. Juan Audibert, Senior Investment Officer at EIB.
EIB financed the project through a EUR 43.7 M loan, while EBRD and Proparco respectively contributed with two loans of about EUR 21.8 M each.
The electricity generated by Tutly was contracted to the National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan through a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement. The power plant is expected to start feeding power to the grid at the end of 2021.
Turnkey Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) contracts were signed with METKA EGN, the Renewables & Storage Development (RSD) Business Unit of MYTILINEOS S.A, a leading Greek industrial company with activities in the sectors of EPC projects, metallurgy and electricity.
Once completed, the powerplant is expected to produce 270 GWh per year, enough to supply the needs of about 140,000 people in Uzbekistan while reducing CO2 emissions by about 160,000 tons per year. The solar farm will also support regional sustainable growth and contribute to local employment, with more than 300 workers on site during the construction phase and 15 permanent jobs created for the operation phase.
In Uzbekistan, power generation is largely provided by thermal power plants, mainly gas-fired and coal-fired power plants. The diversification of the electricity mix constitutes a major step in the low carbon trajectory and the Tutly solar plant thus participates to the objective of the Uzbek government to reach 8 GW of renewable capacity (solar and wind) to produce 25% of the electricity generated in the country from renewable sources by 2030.
