Uzbekistan: Chinese firm to build $173 million waste-to-energy plant

China-based Wangneng Environment has announced plans to invest CNY 1.2 billion (USD 173 million) to develop a large-scale waste-to-energy (WtE) plant in Uzbekistan. The project will be based on municipal solid waste to strengthen efforts of Uzbekistan to modernise waste management and expand clean energy infrastructure.

The proposed facility will be located in the Bukhara region in southwestern Uzbekistan and will have the capacity to process up to 1,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day. As per reports, the waste to energy project is expected to be constructed over a two-year period and will operate under a 30-year concession agreement. Revenue will be generated through waste treatment fees and the sale of electricity produced from waste.

The project aligns with Uzbekistan’s growing focus on sustainable urban development, as the country seeks to reduce landfill dependence, improve environmental outcomes, and diversify its energy mix.

Wangneng said it has signed an investment agreement with a specialised agency under Uzbekistan’s National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, which is providing policy and institutional support for waste-to-energy investments.

For Wangneng, the Uzbekistan plant marks a significant step in its overseas expansion strategy as competition intensifies in China’s domestic waste-to-energy market. The investment also fits within the broader framework of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which promotes cross-border cooperation in infrastructure, energy, and environmental projects.

Wangneng is currently developing a 600-tonne-per-day waste-to-energy facility in Vietnam’s Thai Binh province and has secured waste-to-power projects in Thailand and Cambodia.

Growing Chinese Influence in Central Asia

Chinese companies are aggressive in the infrastructural and clean energy project development particularly in the Central Asian region in the fast-changing geo-political scenario. Recently, Kyrgyzstan commissioned Central Asia’s first waste-to-energy facility in Bishkek with the help of Junxin Huanbao Key Zhi Invest LLC. Before that Hunan Junxin Environmental Protection company announced that it would be investing $600 million in three waste to energy projects in Kazakhstan.