Construction of a power plant by South Korea begins in Uzbekistan

A South Korean delegation, led by Vice Environment Minister Yoo Je-chul, attended to the groundbreaking ceremony for the Tashkent Landfill Gas Power Plant in Akhangaran, Uzbekistan.

The Tashkent Landfill Gas Power Plant, scheduled for completion in 2024, is Central Asia’s first public-private partnership (PPP) for a landfill gas power plant (project led by Sejin G&E).

It is significant because the project is the first case where the Korean government invests in overseas environmental projects to reduce GHG emissions and can use the project to offset local carbon emissions.

GHG emissions can be reduced by 720,000 tons per year and a total of 10.8 million tons in 15 years by generating electricity at the power plant using landfill gas (or methane) as fuel.

The Ministry of Environment invested KRW 2.7 billion in the project, including construction costs for the facility, and expects to earn 110,000 tons of carbon credits in ten years by being recognized by the UN for offsetting the country’s GHG emissions.

The delegation left South Korea on January 24, 2023, the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday, after hearing from Sejin G&E about delays in acquiring licenses and related permits, such as power purchases.

At the inauguration ceremony of the Green Industry Alliance, President Lee Gyeong-yeon of Sejin G&E asked the Ministry of Environment to help him negotiate with the Government of Uzbekistan as the project is being delayed due to difficulties in negotiating directly with the government of another country.

Deputy Environment Minister Yoo Je-chul, head of the delegation, met with Azim I. Akhmedkhadjaev, First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan.

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The deputy minister called for full cooperation, stating that the Tashkent landfill gas power plant is an intergovernmental cooperation project in which the Korean government is very interested.

Azim responded that the necessary licenses and permits for Korean companies, such as power purchase, would be completed by April 2023.

Consequently, the foundation stone-laying ceremony was held on the same day.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, the Tashkent region and Korean companies signed the “Roadmap for a Gas Power Plant of landfill”.

Yoo met with Aziz Abdukhakimov, Minister of Natural Resources of Uzbekistan, and they signed a Declaration of Intent (SOI) for cooperation in the green industry sector.

The aim is to strengthen environmental cooperation between the two countries to offer the opportunity to conclude a memorandum of understanding in the future. At the meeting, Deputy Minister Yoo and Minister Abdukhakimov agreed to fully cooperate to finalize a loan agreement for a complex waste management project, including the construction of five sanitary waste landfills and six sorting and transfer stations in Jizzakh, Uzbekistan. , in 2023.

Building on this delegation, the Ministry of Environment plans to accompany companies anywhere in the world to promote Korea’s green technology and support winning overseas contracts.