On December 17, agreements were signed with ACWA Power for a 100 MW wind power plant (WPP) project in Karakalpakstan, the Ministry of Energy said.
The $ 108 million Korauzak wind farm project is the first wind project in Uzbekistan, the contracts for which was awarded following an open tender. ACWA Power won the tender by offering a tariff of 2.5695 US cents/kWh of electricity.
The company ACWA Power Wind Karatau FE LLC was set up for the project. The company signed an Electricity Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan JSC for a period of 25 years. Also, ACWA Power Wind Karatau FE LLC and ACWA Power signed a Government Support Agreement (GSA) with the Government of Uzbekistan represented by the Ministry of Finance.
The signing ceremony was attended by officials of the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the Agency for the Development of Public-Private Partnerships under the Ministry of Finance, as well as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The wind farm in Korauzak is the fourth ACWA Power project in Uzbekistan. The company, in particular, is a partner in the project “Construction of a thermal power plant with two combined cycle gas turbines in the Syrdarya province of Uzbekistan”.
“The signing of the electricity purchase agreement for the wind farm in Korauzak is another landmark achievement for the country and for our company as it strengthens our growing relationship with the government of Uzbekistan and our commitment to accelerating the country's energy transition to a liberal market,” said the executive vice president of ACWA Power Tom Thirlink.
This WPP project in Karakalpakstan is aimed at supporting the efforts of the Government of Uzbekistan to diversify the country's energy balance and increase its capacity using renewable energy. The Government of Uzbekistan plans to bring the total solar and wind energy capacity to 8 GW by 2026.
