The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power have signed a $107 million loan agreement to build a wind power plant in Uzbekistan. The plant will be located in the Gijduvan district of the Bukhara region.
With a capacity of 300 MW, the plant is expected to generate approximately 943 GWh of electricity annually, enough to power over 336,000 households and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 475,000 tons per year.
The project involves installing 39 wind turbines, each with a capacity of up to 8 MW, constructing a new 35/500 kV substation, and building about 1.5 km of transmission lines to connect the plant to the national grid.
The wind farm will complement the nearby Bash II station, creating a major renewable energy cluster in the region. In addition to AIIB, the Asian Development Bank and Standard Chartered Bank are also financial partners in the initiative.
Konstantin Limitovskiy, Head of the Investment Operations Department at AIIB, stated that this investment reflects the bank's commitment to supporting Uzbekistan's transition to a more sustainable and diversified energy system. By attracting private capital and partnering with experienced developers like ACWA, the project aims to increase renewable energy capacity, enhance energy security, and achieve long-term climate goals.
Abdulhamid Al-Muhaydib, Chief Financial Officer of ACWA Power, emphasized the importance of the public-private partnership model for efficient capital mobilization. Since 2019, AIIB and ACWA Power have invested a total of around $440 million in Uzbekistan's energy sector.
The electricity generated under the new project will be purchased by JSC National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan under a long-term contract. Earlier, the head of ACWA Power met with the President of Uzbekistan and expressed the company's intention to expand investments in the country.
The government of Uzbekistan plans to implement 73 hydropower projects worth $5.8 billion to improve the stability of the energy system. Among them is a 20 MW wind power plant in the Bostanlyk district, being built with a $28 million grant.
Source: www.gazeta.uz