JSC Uzbekhydroenergo, Uzbekistan’s state hydropower producer and developer, has signed a 25-year loan agreement, worth $60 million, with the Asian Development Bank.
The loan will support implementation of Uzbekistan’s ambitious national energy strategy to generate a quarter of all its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, including 3.8 GW of hydro energy.
It follows the recent announcement of a new 20-year, €55.8 million loan from the French Development Agency to support investment projects in Uzbekistan’s hydropower sector.
The loan will cover procurement, management, creation of a high-voltage network and selection of a general contractor through a tender organised with the ADB.
Three new hydropower plants will be built on the Aksu River, as part of the ADB’s Sustainable Hydropower Project. Total installed capacity will be 24 MW, at Tamshush (10.3 MW), Chappasuy (7.5 MW) and Rabat (6.2 MW).
The new HPP projects, which are scheduled for commissioning in 2022, will add 97.5 million kWh of cheap and environmentally friendly electricity production, annually.
The HPP projects complement Uzbekhydronergo’s ‘Project Factory’ initiative, which is already underway and promoting the development and implementation of new investment projects based on modern technologies. The initiative comprises 23 projects with projected capacity of 907.5 MW, worth $1.37 billion. By the end of 2020, it is expected that seven projects with additional capacity of 118.3 MW will have been commissioned.
