ACWA Power has agreed to transfer a stake of 49% in the 1.5GW Sirdarya combined cycle gas turbine facility (Sirdarya CCGT power plant) in Uzbekistan to Silk Road Fund, which is China’s sovereign investment body.
The Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power will retain a 51% stake in the $1bn power plant, which is expected to be operational in early 2024.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ACWA Power CEO and vice chairman Paddy Padmanathan said: “Under our successful public-private partnership model, the support of global investors like Silk Road Fund is critical in ensuring the development of advanced energy infrastructure that benefits both nations and communities, and enables robust socio-economic progress.
“We truly appreciate Silk Road Fund’s confidence in our capabilities and look forward to working with them on the benchmarking Sirdarya project in Uzbekistan and jointly creating a cleaner, greener future for all.”
A share purchase agreement signed by the parties in this regard is anticipated to close by the fourth quarter of this year.
Silk Road Fund chairwoman ZHU Jun said: “The Sirdarya project symbolises the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative among China, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. Silk Road Fund will partner with ACWA Power to bring cleaner power in a more efficient way to local people.”
Construction on the Sirdarya CCGT power plant began in late 2020.
Located in Shirin in the southern part of Uzbekistan, the gas-fired power plant is estimated to offset two million tonnes of carbon emissions per annum. It will have two 750MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle power blocks.
The Sirdarya project is expected to meet 15% of power demand and will constitute 8% of the installed power generation capacity in Uzbekistan.
ACWA Power is developing the Sirdarya CCGT power plant under a build, own, operate, transfer (BOOT) framework.
The power plant is financed by multilateral commercial banks and development banks. It is also underpinned by a 25-year power purchase agreement with Uzbekistan’s National Grid.
