Herbert Smith Freehills advises Voltalia on the first Hybrid power project (526 MW) in Uzbekistan

Leading international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills  has advised Voltalia, an international player in renewable energy, on the signing of a power purchase agreement (PPA) for its Artemisya hybrid project in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan. The agreement was concluded with the state company JSC Uzenergosotish during Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's official visit to France.

The agreement, signed with the endorsement of the Uzbekistan Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, marks a key milestone for the Artemisya project.

The project combines 126 megawatts of solar energy, 300 megawatts of wind power, and 100 megawatts/200 megawatt-hours of battery storage. Annual production of the cluster is equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 2,500,000 inhabitants in Uzbekistan while preventing the emission of 598,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year in the country.

With this new milestone, Voltalia reaffirms its commitment to supporting Uzbekistan’s ambition of reaching eight gigawatts of renewable capacity by 2026 and 12 gigawatts by 2030.

The PPA spans 25 years for solar and wind energy and 15 years for storage, thereby ensuring the long-term profitability and financial viability of the project. The construction phase is set to begin in Q1 2026 for solar and storage and in Q3 2026 for wind power.

The Herbert Smith Freehills' team was led from the firm's Paris office by projects partner Olga Melo Zanelli (Revzina) and finance partner Michaël Armandou with support from senior consultant Ekaterina Vilenskaya.