Sumitomo Corporation Signs Project Financing Agreements for Uzbekistan's Solar and BESS Project

ACWA Power, Shikoku Electric Power Co., Inc. and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., signed project financing agreements with a group of banks, including Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Islamic Development Bank in relation to a solar power and battery energy storage project in Uzbekistan. 

The Project involves the construction, ownership and operation of solar power plants that can generate 1,000 MW, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 600,000 households, and large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), with a total storage capacity of 1,336 MWh, located in the Samarkand and Bukhara regions of Uzbekistan. The Project will develop the largest combined solar photovoltaic and energy storage initiative in Uzbekistan to date. Construction is scheduled to be completed after 2027 and upon commercial operation, all electricity generated will be sold to Uzbekistan’s state-owned JSC National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan (NEGU) under a 25-year power purchase agreement. 

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is leading a US$142 million financing package to support Uzbekistan’s largest combined solar and battery energy storage project to date, involving two special-purpose vehicles majority-owned by Saudi-based ACWA Power and co-owned by Japanese firms Sumitomo Corporation, Shikoku Electric Power, and Chubu Electric Power. The financing package includes two senior secured loans: the first, valued at US$61 million, will be extended to ACWA Power Sazagan Solar 1, while the second, amounting to US$81 million, will be provided to ACWA Power Sazagan Solar 2.

The funds will enable the construction of 1 GW of solar photovoltaic capacity—split into two 500 MW plants in the Samarkand and Bukhara regions—alongside 1,336 MWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS), with 668 MWh allocated to each site. Co-financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Asian Development Bank, and Islamic Development Bank, the initiative will generate approximately 2,300 GWh of clean electricity annually, enough to power 600,000 households, while the large-scale BESS deployment will enhance grid stability by storing excess renewable energy and releasing it during peak demand.