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One step closer to an Uzbek wind farm, courtesy of Acwa Power: Renewables giant Acwa Power signed a SAR 985 mn (c. USD 262.7 mn) power purchase agreement with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan to develop a 200 MW wind farm known as Nukus 2, It will also build a battery energy storage system facility, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. Acwa didn’t provide a timeline for the project.
What we know: Acwa will build the plant under a build, own, operate, and transfer model under a 25-year contract. The project is still in the development stage and its total investment ticket may change when it reaches financial close. Revenues should hit Acwa’s income statement in the first half of 2026.
BACKGROUND- Acwa signed financing agreements worth USD 120 mn in May for the 100 MW Karatau wind farm, formerly referred to as the Nukus wind project. Uzbekistan’s national grid will be the sole buyer of electricity from the farm under a 25-year contract — the first under the country’s public-private partnership law.
Acwa has a considerable foothold in the country: Acwa Power has poured some USD 7.5 bn into renewable energy projects in Uzbekistan to date. The projects are set to produce some 25 GW of renewable energy by 2030, slashing emissions by 3 mn tons. It signed three power purchase agreements totaling USD 2.5 bn last year 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 totalling a capacity of 1.5 GWh. It also signed power purchase and investment agreements last year with NEGU for a 1.5 GW wind energy farm — slated to be Central Asia’s largest. It is also set to develop a green hydrogen plant and a green ammonia pilot project in Uzbekistan, the first of their kind in the Central Asian country.
More to come? Saudi and Uzbekistan signed agreements worth USD 12 bn in November that will see the Kingdom invest in everything from energy, agriculture, chemistry and IT to pharma and infrastructure. The announcement was made as officials broke ground on a pilot green hydrogen production project implemented by Acwa Power in the Tashkent region.
