ACWA Power to Construct Two Additional Wind Power Plants in Uzbekistan
Wind farms with a total capacity of 800 MW are set to be constructed in the Bukhara region and Karakalpakstan, as per recent announcements. The projects, signed off by Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on March 5, will be undertaken by ACWA Power, a Saudi company that has already ventured into the country’s energy sector with a thermal power plant in the Syrdarya region.
The upcoming wind farms will have a significant impact on the region’s energy landscape. The one in the Gijduvan district of Bukhara will have a capacity of 300 MW, while the one near Kungrad will be designed to generate 500 MW of power. ACWA Power aims to raise a total investment of $1.085 billion for both projects, allocating $682 million for Gijduvan and the rest for Kungrad.
To ensure the projects’ success, ACWA Power’s project companies – ACWA Power Gijduvan Wind and ACWA Power KRPK Wind – have secured a 25-year guaranteed supply agreement with consumers and provided $29 million in bank guarantees as collateral. Additionally, the Saudi company will be responsible for providing overhead power lines to integrate the wind farms into the national grid, with the costs covered by JSC National Electric Grids over a ten-year period.
Apart from these developments, ACWA Power is actively engaged in other energy projects in Uzbekistan. In Karakalpakstan, the company is overseeing the construction of two wind power plants with capacities of 1.5 GW and 100 MW respectively. Work is also underway in the Peshku and Gijduvan districts of the Bukhara region to establish 500 MW wind farms, with the first phase anticipated to be operational by the end of this year.
In addition to wind energy, ACWA Power is also involved in the development of photovoltaic power plants in the Tashkent and Samarkand regions. Furthermore, the company is investing in a green hydrogen plant in Chirchik and collaborating with PowerChina on its construction. With these initiatives, Uzbekistan is taking significant steps towards diversifying its energy sources and embracing sustainable solutions for the future.
