The OPEC Fund for International Development has signed a $50 million loan with ACWA Power for the construction and operation of a 1.5-gigawatt combined cycle gas-turbine power plant in Uzbekistan.
The new plant, located in Sirdarya, will replace an aging, less efficient thermal power facility. It will lower operating costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 2.2 million tons per year, meet 15 percent of the power demand in Uzbekistan and comprise 8 percent of all installed power capacity.
With a total project cost of about $1 billion, this is the largest single private-sector-led project in Uzbekistan's energy sector to date.
“We are pleased to contribute to Uzbekistan's massive efforts to upgrade and modernize the country's power generation capacity with reliable and efficient infrastructure,” said Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, fund director-general of OPEC. “Private sector participation in the energy sector will expedite this process and landmark projec
