Central Asia’s first green H2 site in Uzbekistan gets EBRD support

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said today that it will provide a USD-65-million (EUR 58.2m) financial package to support a project for the construction of a 20-MW renewable hydrogen plant backed by 52 MW of new wind power capacity in Uzbekistan.

The scheme, which is the first renewable hydrogen project in Central Asia, is jointly owned by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power Co (TADAWUL:2082) and Uzkimyosanoat, a holding company of state-owned chemical enterprises. The site is expected to produce up to 3,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen annually.

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The financing package includes a senior loan of USD 55 million provided by the EBRD as well as concessional finance of up to USD 10 million from Canada under the Special Fund for the High Impact Partnership on Climate Action (HIPCA).

In addition, the EBRD plans to allocate an equity bridge loan of up to USD 5.5 million for the project, the lender noted in a statement.

The Uzbek facility marks the second renewable hydrogen production project financed by the EBRD following the bank’s support for a renewable hydrogen facility in Egypt in 2022.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.896)