Acwa Power reached financial close for USD 62 mn in loans to finance the 100 MW Nukus 1 wind project in Uzbekistan’s Qorao’zak district, according to a press release on Sunday. The financing — secured from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the German Investment Corporation, and Proparco — will be structured as senior and subordinated debt.

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More on the project: The Nukus 1 project — also known as Karatau Wind IPP — is set to commence operations by late 2025. Earlier in 2023, Acwa signed financing agreements worth USD 120 mn in 2023 for the 100 MW wind farm. The National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan (NEGU) will be the exclusive buyer of electricity generated by the wind farm over a 25-year period.

REMEMBER- Acwa has a considerable foothold in the country: Acwa Power has poured some USD 7.5 bn into renewable energy projects in Uzbekistan as of April 2024. The projects are set to produce some 25 GW of renewable energy by 2030, slashing emissions by 3 mn tons. It signed three power purchase agreements totaling USD 2.5 bn last year with NEGU and the country’s Investment, Industry, and Trade Ministry for 1.4 GW worth of solar projects and three BESS units totaling a capacity of 1.5 GWh. It also signed power purchase and investment agreements last year with NEGU for a 1.5 GW wind energy farm — slated to be Central Asia’s largest.

The company also made progress in Azerbaijan: Acwa Power also disclosed USD 238 mn in financing for the 240 MW Absheron-Khizi Wind Farm in Azerbaijan, marking the country’s first foreign investment-based independent wind project. The EBRD and the OPEC Fund for International Development were listed as the main lenders.

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