The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided US$142 million in financing for the construction of a 1GW solar and 1.3GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) portfolio in Uzbekistan.
The portfolio consists of two solar and storage projects through a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) that will be majority owned by Saudi developer ACWA Power and co-owned by Japanese investors Sumitomo Corporation, Shikoku Electric Power Company and Chubu Electric Power Company.
The financing from EBRD will consist of two senior secured loans. The first loan, of US$61 million, is for the development of the ACWA Power Sazagan Solar 1, which will have a combined capacity of 500MW for solar PV and 668MWh BESS. The project will be built in the southeastern region of Samarkand.
The second loan, of US$81 million, is for the development of the ACWA Power Sazagan Solar 2, which will have the same capacity as the other project, both for solar and BESS. However, unlike the solar PV project, the BESS for this second project will be located in the Bukhara region, which is located west of the Samarkand region.
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Moreover, the two SVPs will represent the largest combined solar and BESS capacity in Uzbekistan and even across the region, according to the EBRD.
The deployment of BESS capacity in Uzbekistan will help mitigate the grid’s intermittency of renewable energy sources, while improving the grid’s reliability and flexibility during periods of peak demand.
Other co-financers of the project include the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance, the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
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