The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced a financing package worth $142 million for two special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) developing a solar-plus-storage project in Uzbekistan. The project involves constructing 1,000 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity and 1,336 MWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) across two sites in the Samarkand and Bukhara regions. The two SPVs, ACWA Power Sazagan Solar 1 and ACWA Power Sazagan Solar 2, will be majority owned by ACWA Power, alongside Japanese partners Sumitomo Corporation, Shikoku Electric Power Company, and Chubu Electric Power Company.
The financing includes a $61 million loan for the Sazagan Solar 1 project, comprising a 500 MW solar and 668 MWh BESS project, located in Samarkand. It also includes a $81 million loan for the Sazagan Solar 2 project, comprising a 500 MW solar project in Samarkand and a 668 MWh BESS in the Bukhara region. The projects are being co-financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance-covered lenders.
Furthermore, the BESS projects are expected to enhance grid reliability by addressing the intermittency of renewable generation and enabling additional power availability during peak demand. Together, the projects are projected to generate about 2,300 GWh of electricity annually, once operational, sufficient to supply nearly 600,000 households. Uzbekistan’s has a renewable energy target of 25,000 MW of solar and wind capacity by 2030.
