Voltalia to build 126MW PV plant in Uzbekistan, signs 500MW/1,000MWh BESS complex deal

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Trina Solar's Vertex modules at Voltalia’s project site in Karavasta, Albania.
A Voltalia project site in Albania. Image: Voltalia

French renewables company Voltalia has begun construction on a 126MW solar PV project in Uzbekistan.

The Sarimay Solar project is expected online in the second half of 2025, supported by financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Voltalia has also signed two partnership agreements to deploy battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Uzbekistan. The first will extend the Sarimay project with a 50MW/100MWh BESS, the sales contract for which is expected to be signed in summer 2024.  Voltalia signed an expansion deal for the Sarimay site in November 2023 during French President Macron’s visit to Uzbekistan, as reported by our colleagues at Energy-storage.news.

The second deal will pursue the development of a 500MW/1,000MWh BESS complex. In partnership with the Uzbek Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, Voltalia will construct and develop the site as part of what CEO Sébastien Clerc called “our commitment to strengthening our presence in Uzbekistan.”

He continued: “By offering long-term sales contracts for major national and international storage projects, Uzbekistan offers the opportunity to accelerate Voltalia’s battery storage strategy, without being exposed to fluctuations of the electricity market prices.”

To this point, much of the development for both solar PV and BESS in Uzbekistan has come from Middle-Eastern companies. The UAE state-owned renewables developer Masdar connected 511MW worth of PV projects to the Uzbek grid in March and in January the company expanded an agreement with the country’s government to develop 500MWh of battery storage and 2GW of wind energy.

Uzbekistan aims to have 12GW of renewable energy capacity on its grid by 2030, 7GW of which will be solar PV. One of the main drivers of the renewables and energy storage buildout is the public-private partnership programme, which incentivises private companies – like Voltalia or Masdar – to participate in public sector infrastructure projects.

In its 2023 full-year results, Voltalia said that it “exceeded” its targets, posting turnover of €495.2 million (US$531.9 million), an increase of 6% over 2022 figures. This was largely driven by the company’s sustained investments into solar PV.

Read Next

June 12, 2025
Earthrise Energy has secured US$630 million for its 270MWac solar project in Gibson City Solar, Illinois.
June 12, 2025
US independent power producer (IPP) DESRI has begun construction on a 205MW/1,000MWh solar-plus-storage project in the state of Arizona.
June 12, 2025
New Zealand renewables developer Lodestone Energy has started constructing its first solar PV project on the country’s South Island, with a total generation capacity of 27.7MW.
June 11, 2025
A new report has claimed that creating a Sydney renewable energy zone (REZ) in New South Wales, Australia, could generate up to 21GW of renewable energy from rooftop solar PV.
June 11, 2025
Venn Energy, a renewable energy developer, has seen its 500MW Cooba solar-plus-storage site selected for inclusion in Victoria’s Development Facilitation Program (DFP) scheme in Australia.
June 10, 2025
A group of Republican Congress members penned an open letter on Friday urging the US Senate to moderate proposed changes to renewable energy manufacturing and deployment support.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand