The central Asian country signed an inter-governmental agreement with Russia in September 2018 for the development of its first nuclear power plant. The facility, which will be constructed by Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom, will have two blocks with a combined capacity of 2,400 MW. The first is due to come on line in 2028 and the second in 2030.
Mr Mirzamahmudov, who is also head of the Uzatom state nuclear agency, which was established in July 2018 to lead national nuclear development, said the units will provide about 12% of the country’s electricity generation and be a “long-term baseload power resource”.
Engineering and geological work has begun at the site, an area near Lake Tuzkan in Jizzakh province, west of the capital Tashkent in the east of the country.
“We will prepare the environmental impact assessment and expect that this year we will finalise all the work and all the documents to get approvals for the licence for the site,” Mr Mirzamahmudov said.
Next year site preparation will be stepped up and the preparation of external infrastructure will begin.
The construction of the station is scheduled to begin in 2022 with a soft loan from the Russian government, although Mr Mirzamahmudov said exact details of the financing package and the cost of the units had not yet been finalised.
Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev told reports in Russia recently that further negotiations are planned in the coming months and hno details would be released until they are complete.
“We want to add nuclear power as well as renewables to ensure the sustainability of our energy mix,” said Mr Mirzamahmudov. “With nuclear, you can plan your energy strategy for the next 60 years – and we are one of the top countries in the world for uranium production, so we have the raw material.”
Uzbekistan, the world’s seventh largest uranium producer, sees the nuclear project as a pass into the “elite club” of nuclear powers, according to Mr Mirzamakhmudov. “We will be joining the club of countries with peaceful use of nuclear energy. That is an elite club. This is a whole new level, different type of relationships, new technologies, science and education development.”
