BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 5.Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Uzbekistan have signed a memorandum of understanding worth $352.2 million on the digitalization of the energy sector, Trendreports via Uzbek media outlets.
The memorandum was signed between the Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Sarvar Hamidov, and the Director General of ADB for Central and Western Asia Eugene Zhukov within the framework of the 56th Annual meeting of the ADB in the South Korean Incheon.
Owing to the sum of money allocated by ADB, Uzbekistan will be able to restore and modernize distribution energy substations, as well as strengthen the activities of the state-owned energy distribution companies.
As a result, will be improved the reliability and quality of energy services, as well as facilitated the transition to clean energy by reducing losses in the distribution system and greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the main areas of cooperation between Uzbekistan and ADB is the country's energy sector, in particular, increasing the deployment of renewables. Recently, ADB has approved a $64.5 million loan portfolio for Masdar’s construction of three large solar power plants with a total capacity of 900 MW in Uzbekistan’s Sherabad, Samarkand, and Jizzakh regions.