Masdar has signed a battery storage service agreement with JSC Uzenergosotish to develop a standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Uzbekistan. The 300 MW/600 MWh Zarafshan BESS project in Navoiy will be connected to the Murunau substation and forms the first phase of a broader national battery storage programme. The initial 300 MW/600 MWh phase will have the capacity to store enough energy to supply approximately 1.3 million households for two hours. A second phase of equal capacity is planned as an extension of the facility. The project is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2028.
The project supports Uzbekistan’s target of generating 54 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and contributes to its long-term net-zero goals. Masdar’s current portfolio in Uzbekistan includes about 2 GW of clean energy capacity, representing investments exceeding $2 billion. The project follows Masdar’s earlier agreement with the country’s Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade in December 2023, to establish up to 575 MW/1,150 MWh of BESS capacity across the country.
In October 2025, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced a financing package worth $142 million for two special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) developing a solar-plus-storage project in Uzbekistan. The project involves constructing 1,000 MW of solar capacity and 1,336 MWh of BESS across two sites in the Samarkand and Bukhara regions. The two SPVs, ACWA Power Sazagan Solar 1 and ACWA Power Sazagan Solar 2, will be majority owned by ACWA Power, alongside Japanese partners Sumitomo Corporation, Shikoku Electric Power Company, and Chubu Electric Power Company.
