March 2023

Building a Green Future in Uzbekistan

The Ministry of Environment sent a delegation headed by Yoo Je-chul, Vice Minister of Environment, to Uzbekistan. The delegation attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the ¡°Tashkent landfill gas power plant¡± held in Akhangaran, Uzbekistan, on January 26, 2023. The ¡°Tashkent landfill gas power plant¡± scheduled to be completed in 2024 is Central Asia¡¯s first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for a landfill gas power plant project led by Korean engineering company Sejin C&E.

The project is significant as it represents the first time the Korean government has invested in an overseas environmental project to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which demonstrates that may use the project to offset local carbon emissions. Over 15 years, the power plant is expected to reduce GHG emissions by 720,000 tons per year, totaling 10.8 million tons. The Korean government has invested 2.7 billion won in the project, which may earn them 110,000 tons of carbon credits over 10 years.

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

As a response, on Jan. 25, Vice Minister of Environment Yoo Je-chul, head of the delegation, met with Azim I. Akhmedkhadjaev, the First Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan. The vice minister asked for full cooperation, stating that the Tashkent landfill gas power plant is an intergovernmental cooperation project in which the Korean government is very interested.

Vice Minister Azim replied that the necessary licenses and permits for Korean companies, such as power purchases, would be completed within April 2023. Accordingly, the groundbreaking 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 landfill gas power plant.

At the meeting, Vice Minister Yoo and Minister Abdukhakimov agreed to fully cooperate to finalize a loan agreement for a complex waste management project, including building five sanitary waste landfills and six sorting and transfer stations in Jizzakh, Uzbekistan, in 2023.

The Ministry of Environment announced earlier this year that it would make this year the inaugural year for the green industry to become a new growth engine by expanding exports of the green industry. Starting with the delegation, the Ministry of Environment plans to accompany companies anywhere in the world to promote the excellence of Korea¡¯s green technology and support the winning of overseas contracts.