ACWA Power to build largest in Central Asia wind farm in Uzbekistan

Saudi Arabian ACWA Power has announced its readiness to build a new wind farm in Uzbekistan. The facility is set to become the largest in the region, and one of the largest in the world. A corresponding agreement was signed on May 3 this year with the ministries of energy, as well as investment and foreign trade of Uzbekistan.

The project includes the development, construction, and operation of a 1,500 MW wind power project in Karakalpakstan.

"This project is another significant achievement for your country and reinforces ACWA Power's commitment to work with fast-growing markets such as Uzbekistan to achieve its ambitious renewable energy and sustainable development goals," said ACWA Power Chairman Mohammad Abunayyan, commenting on the event.

"As an energy producer, we in Uzbekistan are learning a lot from our Middle Eastern and especially Saudi partners in the transition to a low-carbon economy. The ACWA Power project will make a big contribution to this process. Our plan is to produce 25% of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030, " said Deputy Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan Sherzod Khodjaev.

The project is expected to meet the electricity needs of approximately 4mn households and offset approximately 2.5mn tons of carbon dioxide per year. The project is also in line the with government's goals of significantly increasing electricity generation using renewable energy to meet the growing demand.

ACWA Power is also running two more wind projects in Bukhara and Navoi, with a combined power generation capacity of 1,000 MW. In the Syrdarya region, it is implementing a project to build a high-efficiency gas power plant with a capacity of 1,500 MW.