From Gas to Gigawatts: Uzbekistan Powers Ahead with Dual Nuclear Deal

By Bruce Pannier

Uzbekistan has confirmed it will be building a large nuclear power plant (NPP) with two 1000-megawatt (MW) reactors as the country prepares for a sharp increase in electricity consumption in the coming years. Uzbekistan’s state atomic energy company, Uzatom, posted on September 26 that a new agreement calls for both a large and small NPP to be constructed at the same site in Uzbekistan.

The revised plan for NPPs in Uzbekistan combines agreements the country signed with the Russian state nuclear company Rosatom in 2018 and 2024.

Uzbek Prime Minister Abdullo Aripov and his Russian counterpart at the time, Dmitri Medvedev, signed a deal in September 2018 for a large NPP with two VVER-1200 reactors. However, in late May 2024, during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Uzbekistan, a new agreement was signed for six small reactors, each with a capacity of 55 MW. Preparation work for six RITM-200N reactors started shortly after in the Farish district of Jizzakh Province.

In June 2025, Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development said the agreement was restructured. The latest official agreement, signed September 26, 2025, commits to building an integrated NPP with two large VVER-1000 reactors and two small modular RITM-200N units. The Farish facility will be the first to house both a large and a small NPP at the same site.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Nuclear Week conference in Moscow on September 25, Uzatom director Azim Akhmedkhadjaev said, “We are the first in Central Asia to create an innovative solution for the future… (a) project combining advanced small modular reactor technology with time-tested solutions from large-scale nuclear energy.”

The new agreement calls for the construction of two VVER-1000 units instead of the original VVER-1200 models. There was no explanation for the change in the type of reactors for the Uzbek facility.

Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev was also at the conference in Moscow. Hojayev noted Uzbekistan is seeking to increase renewable energy sources so that by 2030, these sources will produce more than 40% of Uzbekistan’s energy. Khodjaev pointed to solar and wind projects in explaining why the small NPPs are necessary. “Large blocks (reactors) provide stable baseload generation, while small blocks cover peak loads and balance the erratic operation of solar and wind farms,” according to Khodjaev.

Essentially, the smaller reactors will help ensure a constant flow of electricity into the domestic grid when there is insufficient wind or sun to keep wind farms and solar power stations operating at full capacity.

As Much as Possible and More

Khodjaev has said that when both the large and small NPPs are operational in 2035, it will add some 15-billion-kilowatt hours (kWh) to Uzbekistan’s power grid.

Electricity production in Uzbekistan has risen from some 59 billion kWh in 2016 to about 81.5 billion kWh in 2024. A relatively small percentage of that is exported to neighbors. A recent agreement with Kazakhstan calls for sending some 900 million kWh of Uzbek electricity to its northern neighbor between March and December 2026. In 2023, Uzbekistan exported some 1.82 billion kWh to its southern neighbor, Afghanistan.

Electricity consumption at home has increased from some 61 billion kWh in 2018 to around 72 billion kWh in 2023. Some forecasts indicate that electricity consumption in Uzbekistan will reach 120.8 billion kWh by 2030.

Akhmedkhadjaev said the first concrete would be poured at the Farish site in 2026. However, even if all of Uzbekistan’s NPPs are working by 2035, they will not even meet one-third of the estimated increased consumption in the next five years. The agreement with Rosatom does have an option to add two more VVER-1000 reactors that would, after several more years, nearly double output from the large NPP.

Better Late Than Never

Uzbekistan is moving forward quickly on the development of new energy resources and the construction of new power plants. The 67% increase in electricity consumption the country is expecting in the next five years underscores the urgency of building new facilities and boosting electricity output. And this must be done as Uzbekistan’s natural production continues to decline.

Once a gas exporter, Uzbekistan is now importing gas from Russia and Turkmenistan to compensate for a drop in domestic output from more than 61 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2018 to 44.6 bcm in 2024.

Uzbekistan is also including the construction of new hydropower plants (HPP) in its attempts to bring more renewable power sources online, but climate change is already having a powerful effect on Central Asia. HPPs might only prove a short-term solution for power generation, not only in Uzbekistan, but throughout the region.

Uzbekistan’s foray into nuclear power comes a bit later than could be desired, but the NPPs Rosatom is building might be only the first of several the country opts to construct.

Kazakhstan debated building an NPP for decades and only approved the plan in October 2024. Rosatom is also building the first plant in Kazakhstan, which is due to be completed by 2035-2036, about the same time as the NPP in Uzbekistan. However, Kazakhstan has already announced that it will build two more NPPs with Chinese contractors.

Kazakhstan is the world’s leading uranium producer, whilst Uzbekistan is the fifth largest. Both countries have the domestic resources for developing nuclear power; however, neither can produce nuclear fuel, and another agreement announced by Uzatom was for Russian supplies of nuclear fuel.

Uzbekistan will surely be monitoring Kazakhstan’s progress on building its NPPs, but it will probably not be too much longer before the Uzbek government announces its intention to expand its use of nuclear power.