ACWA Power, a Saudi company, has secured two loans worth $20m each from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) to support the construction and operation of two wind power plants in Uzbekistan. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development served as the technical bank, and Standard Chartered Bank acted as the documentation bank. The funding consortium includes Proparco, Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Asian Development Bank. The wind power facilities, the 500MW Dzhankeldy wind farm, and the 500MW Bash wind power plant, are expected to support Uzbekistan’s renewable energy generation capacity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diversify its energy mix.
The Dzhankeldy wind farm loan will also support the development of the plant’s infrastructure, including its construction, operation, and maintenance, as well as the development of 128 kilometre transmission infrastructure. The Bash wind power plant will generate over 1,650 GWh of electricity annually and include the construction and installation of 160-kilometre transmission infrastructure. Together, the two plants are expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 1.8 billion tonnes.