ACWA Power wins another energy project tender in Uzbekistan

Saudi Arabian ACWA Power (ACWA) has won another international energy tender in Uzbekistan. A developer, investor, co-owner and operator of a portfolio of power generation, renewable energy and desalinated water production plants, offered a tariff of 2.5695 cents per kWh of generated electricity. The reserve winner was Masdar (UAE) with a tariff of 2.655 cents.

ACWA is now committed to investing up to $140mn worth FDI towards construction of a 100 MW wind farm in Karakalpakstan, commissioning of which is scheduled for 2023. The new power plant is to ensure the production of 400mn kWh of environmentally friendly electricity per year, according to the Uzbek Ministry for Investment and Foreign Trade.

About 70 foreign companies showed interest in participating in the tender. 16 companies from China, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Russia, Singapore, the Czech Republic and France participated in the prequalification, 12 of them were selected.

The plant will be located on the territory of the Karauzyak and Beruniy districts of Karakalpakstan.

The project is part of the program aimed at diversifying Uzbekistan’s energy balance through the introduction of alternative sources of electricity.

Its implementation is set to contribute to achieving the goal of bringing the share of electricity generated from renewable sources in the total energy balance to 25%, providing electricity to about 110,000 households, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 157,000 tons per year, as well as creating more than 1,000 new jobs during construction.

Two more agreements were signed with ACWA in February last year. One of them provides for the construction of a $0.55−1.1bn worth wind power plant with a capacity of 500-1000 MW.

In March 2020, the Ministry of Energy and ACWA inked a 25-year agreement to purchase electricity with a total cost of $1.2bn. Electricity is to be generated by a gas turbine power plant with a capacity of 1,500 MW.