ACWA Power locks debt for USD-533m Uzbek PV-plus-storage project

Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power Co (TADAWUL:2082) said on Monday it has completed the dry financial close for a USD-533-million (EUR-496m) project in Uzbekistan combining solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage technologies.

The Tashkent Riverside project calls for the construction of a 200-MW solar farm and a battery energy storage system (BESS) of 500 MWh, touted as the largest one of its kind in Central Asia.

ACWA Power has secured USD 386 million in debt financing for the project, covering about two-thirds of the required investment. The funding transaction was signed with a consortium of six lenders comprising the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Islamic Development Bank, DEG, Proparco, Standard Chartered, and KfW-IPEX Bank.

Once in operation, the PV-storage complex will generate electricity for about 170,000 homes annually, supporting Uzbekistan’s goal to have 25 GW of installed renewables by the end of the decade and making renewables account for 40% of its energy balance. The battery component will help stabilise the local power grid by storing excess electricity when production is high and discharging it during periods of low generation.

ACWA Power currently has 11.6 GW of power assets in its portfolio in Uzbekistan, including 10.1 GW of renewables. In May, the company sealed a power offtake deal with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan for a 5-GW wind project in the northwestern autonomous region of Karakalpakstan.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.931)

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