ACWA Power will build a 1 GW wind project in Uzbekistan

Saudi power project developer ACWA Power has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan to develop a wind park project, with a capacity between 500 MW and 1 GW. The project could cost between US$550m and US$1.1bn. The wind project is part of a larger agreement between ACWA Power and Uzbekistan, which includes the construction of a 1.5 GW CCGT plant, for which the Saudi company has been granted a 25-year power purchase agreement. It would require an investment of US$1.2bn. Earlier in March 2020, the government had launched a 1,500 MW CCGT power plant project in the Sirdarya region, in the east of the country, to be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP).

Uzbekistan has a total electricity capacity of 14.3 GW, including 54% of gas-fired power plants, 19% of coal-fired plants, 14% of oil-fired power plants, and 13% of hydropower plants (end of 2018). The Central Asian country is seeking to diversify its power mix and aims to develop up to 5 GW of solar power capacity by 2030, to meet rising electricity demand (expected growth of 5.8%/year between 2019 and 2030). In February 2020, the government published an invitation for expression of interest for two 200 MW solar power projects in the Samarkand and Jizzakh regions (east of the country). Another 200 MW solar project would be developed in Sherabad, also under a PPP.