Uzbekistan has signed its 1st contract to buy residential solar power as Tashkent city electric networks entered an agreement with a local resident who has installed 6 kW rooftop PV capacity at his home, the nation's Ministry of Energy announced.
As per the contract entered, Rasulov Rakhimzhon of Tashkent's Yakkasaray district will sell surplus electricity generated by the 6 kW system to the local grid that's designed to produce between 7,000 kWh to 10,000 kWh of electricity annually.
According to the ministry, "This agreement applies to the purchase of electricity from renewable energy sources (excluding micro and small hydropower plants) with a total installed capacity of up to 1 MW (AC). Thus, on the basis of this contract, the electricity generated in this household is now purchased with a guarantee pre-installed by the Tashkent RES company."
According to Reuters, the local grid company will purchase this electricity from Rakhimzhon for UZS 300 ($0.028) per kWh.
The resident is now seeking reimbursement for part of the capital costs incurred by him in installing the system on the rooftop under another ministry scheme.
The ministry now encourages other citizens to install and grid connect solar PV installations of up to 1 MW capacity and sell the excess electricity generated to regional utilities on contractual basis under existing government regulations.
This focus on small scale solar comes in the wake of Uzbekistan already taking strides in large scale solar power plants having auctioned well over 1 GW capacity through various tenders and is already planning more (see Uzbekistan Planning 300 MW PV Tender).
Seeing the competitiveness of renewables, the country is already working on a strategy to increase its renewables ambition for 2030, up from 5 GW now for solar to 7 GW and from 3 GW now for wind to 5 GW (see Uzbekistan May Increase Renewable Energy Targets For 2030).
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