Acwa Power moves forward with Uzbekistan renewable projects

A big day for Acwa: KSA’s Acwa Power has connected two 500 MW wind projects in Bukhara to the national grid and broke ground on two solar plants with combined 1 GW capacity in Samarkand, along with a 334 MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Tashkent, according to a statement. Acwa’s portfolio in the country is worth around USD 15 bn.

Acwa still has a pipeline to get through: The remaining projects — the Sazagan 1 and 2 solar farms and their 334 MW BESS system— are to be co-developed with Japan’s Sumitomo, which joined Acwa on a portfolio of 2.5 GW renewables projects in Uzbekistan last October. The projects are set to begin commercial operations between 2Q 2026 and 2Q 2027.

REMEMBER- The two inaugurated wind farms are the USD 658 mn, 500 MW Dzhankeldy Wind Farm and the USD 690 mn, 500 MW Bash Wind Plant. The developments include two transmission lines, one extending 128 km for Dzhankeldy and one 160 km long for Bash. The company signed 25-year Power Purchase Agreements with the National Electrical Grid of Uzbekistan for both projects.

Acwa is investing heavily in Uzbekistan: Acwa Power has a 10-project green energy portfolio in Uzbekistan with a combined USD 7.5 bn investment value. The company is building a green hydrogen plant in Tashkent that will generate 3k tons of green hydrogen annually during its initial production phase, with a 52 MW wind farm to support the project. Acwa also signed three power purchase agreements totaling USD 2.5 bn in March with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan 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.

The company has BESS advantage in Uzbekistan: In November, the company inked a two-year implementation agreement with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy in November to develop 2 GWh of BESS in the country. Under the agreement, Acwa receives priority for the BESS developments, allowing the company to provide competitive tariffs. The contract may be extended if both parties agree to.