Saudi energy company ACWA Power has broken ground on a 100MW wind project in Uzbekistan.
The ground-breaking comes less than two months after binding project agreements were signed with the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and JSC National Electric Grid (NEGU), the off taker.
The Nukus wind project, with an estimated total investment of $108m, is located in the Karatau district, in the Karakalpakstan region, in the north-west part of the country.
It is expected to reach financial close by the third quarter of 2022.
The Uzbek government has plans to diversify the country’s energy mix and is targeting 8GW of solar and wind capacity by 2026.
The Nukus wind project marks the republic’s first open, competitive tender in the wind energy sector.
ACWA Power won the bid after proposing a tariff of US 2.5695 cents/kwh, which was the lowest in a tender process that included 11 other bidders.
Alisher Sultanov, minister of energy of Uzbekistan, said “Uzbekistan has been working closely with the IFIs to open up the country’s power sector to private investment and to help us reach our goal of 25% of energy consumption deriving from renewable sources by 2026.
“We have a huge variety of projects underway, and already completed. It is my great pleasure to update audiences on our progress. Uzbekistan is committed to policy goals to improve energy efficiency and increase renewable energy’s share of the country’s energy mix.”
The Nukus wind project is ACWA Power’s fourth facility in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The company’s in-country portfolio also includes a combined cycle gas turbine plant, and two wind projects.