Amid the rising need to strengthen bilateral energy relations between Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, ACWA Power Co. has signed agreements valued at USD 100 million with two well-known Uzbek energy firms.
According to a statement on Tadawul, the Saudi company inked a power purchase deal with the National Power Grid of Uzbekistan, as well as a hydrogen purchase contract with the state-owned chemical entity, Uzkimyosanoat, on Thursday.
Apparently, ACWA Power will be procuring nearly 3,000 tons of green hydrogen per year and 52 to 100 megawatts of renewable energy capacity from the inaugural green hydrogen plant of Uzbekistan, which the company is also developing.
The hydrogen and power contracts will respectively span 15 and 25 years while constituting construction, project development, and operation.
As per sources, these contracts are expected to financially impact after the project attains the commercial operations which are targeted for December 2024.
It has also been reported that the green hydrogen plant is likely to link to an existing ammonia unit in Chirchiq, situated 45 kms from the capital, Tashkent.
Reportedly, ACWA Power will be handling the full integration chain for the existing infrastructure project to green hydrogen, which is expected to improve the facility’s service factor while reducing its reliance on natural gas.
Uzbekistan is currently home to more than five active projects for the energy company, including four wind projects and a combined gas cycle turbine facility. After Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan is the country with the second-highest market value for ACWA Power.
As per the Chairman at ACWA Power, Mohammad Abunayyan, Uzbekistan, in recent years, has become the most exciting growth country for ACWA Power and is the biggest investment landscape outside of the Kingdom.
Mohammad further expressed pride in the company’s giga scale development experience within green hydrogen, which is making the firm a preferred choice of partners worldwide.
It has further been disclosed that the firm operates across 12 countries with total investments of $74.8 billion and 72 assets.
Source Credits: https://www.arabnews.com/node/2305876/business-economy