ACWA Power signs $108m PPA for Uzbek wind

ACWA Power Wind Karatau – an affiliate of ACWA Power and Nukus Wind – has signed a $108 million power purchase agreement (PPA) and a government support agreement (GSA) for the Nukus wind farm in north-western Uzbekistan.

PIF-backed ACWA Power won the bid to construct Uzbekistan’s first wind project through a public tendering process, announcing the statement on Sunday (19 December) to Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock exchange.

ACWA Power signed the PPA with the off-taker National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan (NEGU) and the GSA with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Finance.

Under the agreement, ACWA signed a 25-year PPA to construct the Qorao’zak Wind Farm for NEGU. ACWA will charge $2.57KWh, which is the lowest tariff for wind energy projects in the country.

The 100MW Nukus project will be constructed in the Qorao’zak district, north-western Uzbekistan and it is expected to reach financial impact in Q1 2024.

IJGlobal reported in September (2021) that financial bids from 3 independent power producers had been lodged to develop the 100MW wind farm.

Separately, in a bid to increase renewable energy within Central Asia, IJGlobal recently reported (November 2021) that the government of Uzbekistan has announced plans to boost the capacity of solar and wind projects to 8GW by 2026.