Acwa Power builds Uzbekistan portfolio with $5bn deal

Acwa Power

Saudi energy major Acwa Power has signed a power purchase agreement worth nearly $5 billion with the state-owned National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan for the five gigawatt (GW) Aral wind independent power producer (IPP) project.

The wind IPP will be the largest wind farm in Central Asia and is the Saudi-listed renewable company’s 15th project in Uzbekistan, a country that aims to have 40 percent of its energy mix from renewables by 2030. 

“This project will provide clean power to approximately 4.5 million houses in Uzbekistan,” said Acwa Power chairman Mohammad Abunayyan.

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He was speaking following the inauguration of the 1.5 GW Sirdarya cycle gas-fuelled power plant and the initial 100-megawatt phase of the Riverside solar plant in the Tashkent region.

The Aral wind IPP will be deployed in five phases, generating 18,500 GWh of clean electricity annually and displacing 247 billion tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime. The plant will power around four million homes, leading to Uzbekistan’s green energy transition. 

Uzbekistan is Acwa Power’s largest market after Saudi Arabia. The new project brings its total investment in the Central Asian nation to nearly $14 billion. 

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The company’s total portfolio in Uzbekistan comprises 11.6 GW of power, of which 10.1 GW is renewable and a 3,000 tonnes per year green hydrogen project, which was launched in November 2023. 

This month Acwa Power said it has secured funding of SAR11.4 billion ($3 billion) for two projects in the kingdom.

The company, which is backed by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, has 75 assets in various development stages and operations in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia.

The total investment value is nearly SAR300 billion, with the capacity to generate 50 GW of power and manage 7.6 million m3 of desalinated water daily.