Uzbekistan’s list of prospective power projects – across the renewables and gas-fired space – is ballooning. But only one deal – the Syrdarya I CCGT – has reached financial close so far, albeit with heavy DFI support.
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Despite the global economic slowdown caused by Covid-19, the pace of development of an independent power project (IPP) market in Uzbekistan is tangibly picking up. This month ACWA Power closed on the $750 million debt financing for the 1.5GW Syrdarya 1 CCGT project – the first large-scale Uzbek IPP financing to reach financial close – and more IPP deals (both renewables and gas-fired) look set to follow given the recent proliferation of tenders and upcoming regulatory environment streamlining.
In February the Uzbek government issued a new draft law on electric power. If approved, the new regulation will unify and replace all previous regulations and include new articles to further support renewables. And although Uzbekistan has abundant gas, its focus is as strong on renewables development as it is gas-fired. The government is looking to reduce consumption of natural gas for energy production from 16.5 to 12.1 billion cubic meters by 2030 and use gas produced domestica