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OPEC Fund extends USD 40 mn to Acwa Power for wind farms: The OPEC Fund for International Development approved two separate loans worth USD 20 mn each to finance two of Saudi renewables company Acwa Power’s wind farms in Uzbekistan, according to a statement.
Where’s the money going? The credit line extended by the OPEC Fund will be channeled toward the construction, operation, maintenance, and development of 128 km transmission infrastructure for Acwa’s USD 658 mn 500 MW Dzhankeldy Wind Farm, according to the statement. The Saudi developer will also funnel a portion of OPEC’s financing towards the construction and installation of 160 km transmission infrastructure for its USD 690 mn 500 MW Bash Wind Plant to connect it to the national grid, the news outlet notes.
Who’s paying in? A consortium including AFD Group’s Proparco, German development bank Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, as well as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Asian Development Bank is financing the loan packages. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will serve as the technical bank for the transaction and Standard Chartered Bank as the documentation bank.
There’s lots more in Acwa’s pipeline: Acwa Power signed three power purchase agreements totaling USD 2.5 bn in March with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan and the country’s Investment, Industry, and Trade Ministry for 1.4 GW worth of solar projects and three battery energy storage (BESS) units totalling a capacity of 1.5 GWh. Earlier in January, Acwa signed an agreement to build a green hydrogen plant and a green ammonia pilot project in the country.
And the investments will keep rolling in: Acwa has already poured in a total of USD 5 bn to fund the five projects it owns and operates in the country — including the wind farms OPEC is financing. The company plans to invest a total of USD 10 bn in Uzbekistan’s renewables projects over the next five years.
Uzbekistan is ramping up renewables: Uzbekistan has a target to source 35% of its electricity demand from renewables by 2035, planning to establish wind energy plants totaling 10 GW, and solar energy farms that would generate 5 GW of clean power by the end of the decade to offset a total of 16 mn tons of CO2 per annum. Both projects will offset some 1.8 mn tons of CO2 equivalent over their life-cycle, Zawya notes.
