The World Bank Group, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Uzbekistan signed on Tuesday loan and guarantee agreements to finance the first 100-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant in the country, the World Bank said in its Tuesday press release.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and ADB are providing up to $60 million in the financing of the project which will be the first large-scale, privately developed and operated renewable energy facility in Uzbekistan.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing an equity bridge loan to Masdar to fund the equity needs of the project
According to the statement, this project will support efforts of Uzbekistan in production of clean energy, strengthening the security of supply and combating climate change.
The plant will be constructed and operated by the Nur Navoi Solar Foreign Enterprise, a limited liability company (the project company) owned by Masdar, a renewable energy company of the United Arab Emirates.
Masdar committed to supplying power for 25 years at just 2.679 US cents per kilowatt hour – the lowest tariff for solar energy in Central Asia to date, the World Bank said in the statement. The project company will sell electricity to the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan at this fixed price until 2046.
