Saudi Arabia to invest $10 billion in energy in Uzbekistan over next 5 years

Agreements were signed between the ministries of energy of Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia on the construction of an ACWA Power wind farm with a capacity of 1.5 GW in Karakalpakstan, on intentions to invest $10 billion in the energy complex of Uzbekistan and on research to create production in the country of green hydrogen.

The ministries of energy of Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia, as well as Saudi companies, signed three major development agreements worth $12 billion, the press service of the Ministry of Energy reported.

The agreements were signed during the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Saudi Arabia.

The first document is an agreement on the construction of a 1.5 GW wind farm by ACWA Power in Karakalpakstan. The project is expected to become the largest wind farm not only in the region, but throughout the world. It is planned that the wind farm capacity will be able to provide electricity to 1.65 million households and offset 2.4 million tons of carbon emissions per year.

The second cooperation agreement, focused on the development of research and development and the subsequent production of green hydrogen in Uzbekistan, was signed with ACWA Power and Air Products.

A document was also signed expressing the intention of the Saudi side to invest $10 billion in the energy complex of Uzbekistan over the next 5 years. Within its framework, it is planned to implement projects in a number of promising areas. Among them:

• continued cooperation in the field of renewable energy sources – generation based on wind and solar energy, as well as concentrated solar energy projects for electricity generation;
• interaction on generation projects using natural gas as a fuel, in particular, on power plants with a combined cycle based on gas turbines;
• projects aimed at using modern technologies for the storage and accumulation of electricity to ensure the stability of the network, for storage stations based on hydroelectric power plants;
• partnership in the field of localization of production of equipment, spare parts and services used in the energy sector, in the field of building human potential and joint scientific developments.

Today, a number of energy projects are being implemented in Uzbekistan together with partners from Saudi Arabia. ACWA Power is building two wind farms with a capacity of 500 MW each in two districts of the Bukhara region. Also, a wind power plant with a capacity of 100 MW is being built in the Karauzyak district of Karakalpakstan.

At the same time, this Saudi company is building a thermal power plant with a capacity of 1,500 MW in the city of Shirin, Syrdarya region, and its commissioning is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023.

The total capacity of these three wind farms and thermal power plants in Syrdarya is 2,600 MW.