The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is contributing to Uzbekistan’s objective of developing up to 25 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030. They are organizing a facility of up to US$ 229.4 million for the development, design, construction, and operation of a 500 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) and a 200 MW solar photovoltaic power plant in the country’s Tashkent region.
This is one of the largest EBRD-supported BESS projects in the economies where the Bank operates. The project’s technology will help ensure the safe and reliable connection of intermittent renewables to the power grid.
The financing will be provided to ACWA Power Riverside Solar, a special-purpose company fully owned by ACWA Power (an international developer, investor, co-owner, and operator of a portfolio of power-generation, desalinated-water-production, and green hydrogen plants). It will consist of an A-loan of up to US$ 183.5 million (€169.8 million) for the EBRD’s account and a B-loan of up to US$ 40.5 million (€37.5 million) to be syndicated to commercial co-financiers. The EBRD is also mobilising concessional finance of up to €5 million (US$ 5.4 million) from Finland under the EBRD’s High Impact Partnership on Climate Action (HIPCA).
Parallel loans for the project will be provided by the German development corporation DEG, the French development agency Proparco, the Islamic Development Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank.
Once finished, the solar power project is expected to generate up to 418 GWh of electricity per year and reduce annual CO2 emissions by more than 230,000 tonnes. It will further decrease Uzbekistan’s reliance on carbon-intensive thermal power generation and will facilitate the country’s transition to a low-carbon economy, in line with the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge launched at COP28.
Nandita Parshad, Managing Director of the EBRD’s Sustainable Infrastructure Group, said: “We are proud to partner with ACWA Power and co-financiers on the pioneering Tashkent Solar PV and energy storage project in Uzbekistan, the largest of its kind in Central Asia. The project is core to Uzbekistan’s ambition to install 25 GW of renewables by 2030. This project can power 170,000 households and the battery storage capacity is equivalent to 8,000 electric vehicles.”
Marco Arcelli, Chief Executive Officer of ACWA Power, said: “In a world that is looking for greater participation of private capital in emerging markets to support growth and decarbonization, Uzbekistan is a case study under the vision and leadership of its government and lenders like the EBRD, DEG, Islamic Development Bank, Proparco, KfW IPEX-Bank, and Standard Chartered. The agreement today for the Tashkent Riverside project reflects the strong trust placed in ACWA Power as the private sector partner and one of the global leaders in renewables and energy storage. This trust is built on our unparalleled track record, and we look forward to the successful execution of this new project to contribute to the country’s ambitious low-carbon future.”
Uzbekistan is the leading recipient of EBRD funding in Central Asia for the fourth year in a row. To date, the Bank has invested around €4.7 billion in 162 projects across the country, with most of those funds supporting private entrepreneurship.
