Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power to build 2,000 MWh electricity storage system in Uzbekistan for $1.1 bln

TASHKENT. Nov 15 (Interfax) - The Saudi Arabian company ACWA Power will build an electricity storage system in Uzbekistan with a capacity of 2,000 MWh, the Uzbek Energy Ministry's press service said.

ACWA Power and the Energy Ministry signed an agreement on this at the UN's COP29 climate change conference in Baku.

As part of the project, research will be conducted into the Uzbek energy system, and based on this regions will be selected for the gradual introduction of the electricity storage system.

The total cost of the project is initially estimated at $1.1 billion. More than 1,000 jobs will be created as it progressess, the Energy Ministry said.

ACWA Power is currently involved in energy projects in Uzbekistan totaling $7.5 billion. Completed and current projects include construction of a 1.5 GW combined-cycle gas power plant in the Syrdarya region, wind farms in the Bukhara region and Karakalpakstan with a total capacity of 2.6 GW and solar power stations in the Samarkand and Tashkent regions with a capacity of 1.4 GW.

ACWA Power is also involved in establishing production of green hydrogen in the Tashkent region. A total of 3,000 tonnes of hydrogen will be produced a year during the first stage of the project, which is valued at $88 million. It will subsequently be turned into mineral fertilizers. A park of wind power stations with a capacity of 2.4 GW will also be commissioned.

The Uzbek Energy Ministry signed an agreement with ACWA Power and the U.S. company Air Products on developing hydrogen energy in 2021. The sides concluded another agreement in August 2022 on industrial production of green hydrogen. The project was launched in 2023.