UAE-headquartered Masdar has signed an agreement to develop a 500MW wind farm project in Uzbekistan.

The wind farm will be located in the Zarafshon district of Uzbekistan’s Navoi region.

Masdar signed the power-purchase agreement (PPA) and investment agreement with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investments & Foreign Trade and JSC National Electric Grid.

Under the agreements, Masdar will design, finance, build and operate the 500MW facility, which is expected to reach commercial operation in 2024.

The project signing came nearly eight months after Masdar signed a PPA with the government of Uzbekistan for the country's first solar photovoltaic (PV) project.

The contract to develop the 100MW independent power producer (IPP) project was awarded to Masdar in October.

Masdar submitted the lowest tariff of $cents2.679 a kilowatt hour ($c/kWh) for the contract.

The firm will design, finance, build and operate the plant, which will also be located in the Navoi region. The PPA is for 25 years.

Construction of the solar PV scheme was to start in the second quarter of 2020, with commissioning scheduled for the second quarter of 2021.

The project is being developed under the World Bank’s Scaling Solar programme, which will mean the successful bidder can take advantage of International Finance Corporation (IFC) staple-financing assistance. The Uzbek government signed a mandate with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, to develop a project under the Scaling Solar initiative in May 2018.

The project is part of Uzbekistan’s ambitious plan to develop 5GW of renewable energy by 2030. Under the Scaling Solar programme, Uzbekistan is aiming to develop 1GW of PV solar power.

It is understood Masdar is a partner in renewable energy projects with a generating capacity of 5GW, representing a combined investment of $14.3bn.