On June 9-10, 2018, the 18th Meeting of the Council of the Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States will be held in Qingdao, Shandong. It is of great significance as it is the first summit meeting of SCO after its expansion of members.

Uzbekistan is the largest country in Central Asia in terms of the size of population. It is an important member state and one of the founding nations of SCO. In recent years, the cooperation and cultural exchange between China and Uzbekistan have continued to deepen, which strengthens the foundation for the strategic partnership of the two countries. HE Group has paid great attention to the development of the power infrastructure in Uzbekistan and intensified its efforts in the development of the power market of Uzbekistan.

On September 26, 2012, HEI signed a turnkey contract with Uzbekenergo regarding the Angren Power Plant Phase I 1X150MW Coal-fired Power Plant Project in Uzbekistan. This is a project entitled to the preferential loan for SCO member states and a symbolic key project of HE Group for the Belt and Road Initiative. The boilers, steam turbines and turbine generators of the project are made by HE and most of the auxiliary machines and equipment are made by Chinese enterprises. Main companies involved in the construction of the project are Chinese companies. So, this is a typical project “made in China” and “constructed by China”.

On September 9, 2013, President Xi Jinping of China paid a state visit to Uzbekistan and the two countries officially signed the project credit loan agreement. On December 31, 2013, the Angren Project officially came into effect, the construction period was 36 months and the warranty period was two years. On May 23, 2014, an excavation ceremony was held for the Angren Project, marking the official commencement of the project. On August 21, 2016, the units were successfully synchronized for power generation for the first time. On September 22, 2016, the project successfully realized full-load operation and started the power generation operation 100 days ahead of the schedule. On October 16, 2016, the Employer from Uzbekistan issued the project pre-acceptance certificate in advance and confirmed that the project warranty period had officially started and it would expire on October 16, 2018.

In September 2016, the newly elected President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited the new units of the Angren Power Plant. He spoke highly of the HE and felt very satisfied with the unit operation indicators and the project quality. The successful power generation of the units of the Angren Project happened to take place on the 25th anniversary of the independence of Uzbekistan and it happened to be a gift to the people of Uzbekistan on the special occasion.

From the starting date of the warranty period to May 2018, the Angren Project has normally operated for 19 months and the units have operated in a stable and efficient manner. As of now, the project has generated 1.5 billion kilowatt hours of electric power and supplied 155,000 tons of heating extraction steam, which has been a reliable guarantee for meeting the demands of the local residents for power and heat and brought substantial economic and social benefits to the people of Uzbekistan. When various local power plants were shut down for maintenance, the units of the Angren Project continued to be in stable full-load operation according to the power grid dispatching requirements of Uzbekistan, ensured the stability of the grid and met the demand of the people for power at peak times, which has proven the high performance and quality of the units “made by HE”.

As the SCO Summit started counting down, the authoritative media of Uzbekistan including People’s Speeches, Oriental Truth and Uzbekistan Today reported the Angren Power Plant Phase I Project, a benchmarking energy cooperation project between China and Uzbekistan, and publicized the production capacity cooperation model project between the two countries.

Abstract of the comments: The Angren Project is the first circulating fluidized bed power generation unit of Uzbekistan and the first project of HEI in the power market of Uzbekistan, symbolizing the importance of the epoch-marking Belt and Road Initiative as the cooperation link and effective cooperation between China and Uzbekistan.

Abstract of the comments: The Angren Project is special because it is the first to use coal with high ash content for power generation and the fault coal piles up like mountains in the region of Angren. The full-load operation of the new generator units will not only improve the ecological environment by reducing large amounts of coal mine tailings, but also double the power of the existing units. This has effectively solved the electric power shortage problem of the national large industrial base in the region of Tashkent, especially the electric power shortage problems of dozens of energy consuming production enterprises in the Angren Industrial Park.

Abstract of the comments: It is worth pointing out that China is a major country that invests in the economic field of Uzbekistan. Up to now, there are over 700 Chinese enterprises participating in the investment. HEI, which has successfully completed the project, is one of the leading enterprises of China. The successful handover of the project plays a positive role in promoting the economic and trade cooperation between China and Uzbekistan.

The successful implementation of the Angren Project has established the brand image of “made in China” and “constructed by China”, perfectly explained the “Chinese speed” and “Chinese quality” and reflected the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative by Chinese enterprises.