Sustainability Masdar achieves financial close on Uzbekistan’s $600m wind farm By Pramod Kumar September 4, 2022, 7:47 AM Creative Commons Masdar said the new office in Saudi Arabia will look over its existing assets and play a key role in developing future pipeline projects Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) has achieved financial close on the 500-megawatt (MW) Zarafshan wind project in Uzbekistan, WAM, the UAE state news agency, reported. Uzbekistan aims to derive 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2026, said Uzbekistan’s deputy minister of investments and foreign trade Shukhrat Vafaev. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency are anchor lenders for Uzbekistan’s first utility-scale wind farm. In 2020, Masdar entered into bilateral agreements with Uzbekistan to develop, build and operate the Zarafshan wind farm, the largest renewables project in Central Asia. The news agency reported that the project is expected to attract foreign direct investment of more than $600 million. Last month, Masdar signed an agreement with Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd. to develop renewable energy projects with a total capacity of up to two gigawatts. The two companies are jointly targeting the development of renewable energy projects with a capacity of about 600 MW, starting with solar photovoltaic and onshore wind.
