ACWA nabs Bank of China debt for Uzbek solar-storage project

Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power Co (TADAWUL:2082) has clinched a debt financing deal with the Bank of China, providing it with cash to support a 200-MW solar project with battery storage in Uzbekistan.

The Riyadh-based company said on Monday it has signed an equity bridge loan agreement worth USD 80 million (EUR 75.4m). The funding amount will be disbursed in two tranches, of which 50% in Chinese renminbi and the other 50% is US dollars.

The fresh proceeds will finance ACWA Power’s Tashkent project that will create a complex with 200 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and a battery energy storage system (BESS) of 500 MWh. The scheme in the Tashkent province of northeastern Uzbekistan is part of a larger portfolio totalling 1.4 GW of solar and 1.2 GW of battery storage, for which ACWA signed deals with the government of Uzbekistan a year ago.

ACWA Power noted that the loan deal is the first cooperation between a Chinese bank and a Saudi enterprise.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.942)

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