Uzbekistan to get 380 mln USD World Bank concessional loan for electricity sector

Tashkent (Uzbekistan) June 29 (ANI/Xinhua) The World Bank has approved a concessional loan of 380 million U.S. dollars for Uzbekistan to transform the electricity sector and ensure reliable energy supplies to millions of households and businesses across the country, said the bank on Monday.
The populous Central Asian nation expects its electricity demand to grow to over 100 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030, a significant increase from 61 TWh in 2018.
Uzbekistan has more than 250,000 km of electricity transmission and distribution lines, most of which were built during the Soviet period and are now past their useful economic life, said the World Bank.
The obsolete infrastructure has resulted in high electricity losses, estimated at 20 percent of net generation, and frequent power outages, which undermines economic activities and the well-being of residents across the country.
"This new transformational project supports the Government's goal of removing barriers to the effective operation and growth of the electricity sector. It will create the conditions for turning the country's National Electric Grid into a modern and commercially-run company and modernizing the national power transmission system," said World Bank Country Manager for Uzbekistan Marco Mantovanelli in a statement.
"These measures will ensure reliable electricity supply for approximately 32 million consumers and, importantly, enable the grid integration of new large-scale renewable energy generation projects," he said.
According to the lender, the project will also contribute to the development of regional electricity trade in Central Asia by rehabilitating and expanding transmission infrastructure connecting Uzbekistan with the electricity systems of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. (ANI/Xinhua)