Saudi ACWA to Build 1.5-GW Uzbek Gas Plant

Uzbekistan has signed a 25-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) with Saudi utility developer Acwa Power for the construction of a 1,500-MW combined-cycle gas turbine plant, the country's energy ministry said on March 5.

The plant in Shirin city in the Syrdarya region will be developed on a build-own-operate-transfer basis, with Acwa taking the lead in its construction, engineering, operation and maintenance. It will boast an efficiency rate of more than 60%, versus a rate of around 30-35% for Uzbekistan's current gas-fired generation.

State-owned National Electric Grids of Uzbekistan will act as the sole off-taker under the PPA, which the ministry valued at $1.2bn.

The ministry announced on March 4 that it was seeking investors for the power project, billing it as the largest public-private partnership in Uzbekistan's energy industry. Besides Acwa, it said it had pitched the project to Japan's Sumitomo, Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Marubeni, France's Engie and EDF, South Korea's Hyundai and other companies.

Uzbekistan's current power generation capacity is around 12,400 MW, most of which is gas-based. The ministry also said it had signed an implementation agreement with Acwa for building a 500-1,000-MW wind power plant, and a memorandum on developing a technical training centre in Uzbekistan.