ACWA Power names China’s Silk Road Fund as co-investor in $1bn project in Uzbekistan

ACWA Power, the Saudi developer, investor and operator of power generation, water desalination and green hydrogen plants worldwide, and China’s Silk Road Fund have signed a share purchase agreement for the 1.5 GW Sirdarya combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) facility in Uzbekistan.

Located in Shirin, southern Uzbekistan, the project will support Uzbekistan in providing cost-effective and energy-efficient power solutions for its residents, reducing two million tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

ACWA Power will continue to be the majority shareholder in the project, holding a 51 per cent stake in the facility. The Silk Road Fund, which is China’s sovereign investment body that implements the Belt and Road Initiative, will now own 49 per cent of the Sirdarya facility. The share purchase agreement is expected to close by Q4 2022.

Uzbekistan’s JSC National Grid will function as the sole off-taker of the project for a period of 25 years.

Once completed in early 2024, the project will account for 8 per cent of the country’s total power capacity and meet 15 per cent of the country’s electricity demand across industry and households.

“As ACWA Power continues to expand globally, our mission to provide reliable, responsible, and affordable power and water cannot be achieved alone. Under our successful public-private partnership model, the support of global investors like Silk Road Fund is critical in ensuring the development of advanced energy infrastructure that benefits both nations and communities, and enables robust socio-economic progress,” said Paddy Padmanathan, vice chairman and CEO, ACWA Power. “We truly appreciate Silk Road Fund’s confidence in our capabilities and look forward to working with them on the benchmarking Sirdarya project in Uzbekistan and jointly creating a cleaner, greener future for all.”

“The Sirdarya project symbolises the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative among China, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. Silk Road Fund will partner with ACWA Power to bring cleaner power in a more efficient way to local people,” said Zhu Jun, chairwoman of Silk Road Fund.

The Sirdarya facility is ACWA Power and Silk Road Fund’s first strategic partnership in Uzbekistan and Central Asia. ACWA Power has three additional projects in Uzbekistan, chiefly in wind energy, whereas Silk Road Fund has invested in the country’s culture, tourism, oil and gas sectors.

Read: ACWA Power, Uzbekistan ink three key energy agreements worth $12bn