The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced the following:
By Anton Usov
August 28, 2024
EBRD finances first renewable hydrogen facility in Central Asia
Loan to help decarbonize Uzbekistan's fertilizer production and power sectors
Canadian and Japanese support
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is funding a renewable hydrogen pilot facility to help decarbonize fertilizer production and power generation in Uzbekistan. The facility will consist of a 20 MW electrolyser and a 52 MW greenfield wind farm.
The EBRD is providing a US$65 million ($58 million) financing package to ACWA Power UKS Green H2 to develop, design, build and operate the facility. The special purpose vehicle is jointly owned by ACWA Power (an international developer, investor, co-owner and operator of a portfolio of power plants and desalinated water plants) and Uzkimyosanoat (UKS), the holding company for Uzbekistan's state-owned chemical company.
The package comprises a senior loan of US$55 million (US$49 million) provided by the EBRD and a concessional loan of up to US$10 million (US$9 million) from Canada under the High Impact Partnerships for Climate Action (HIPCA) Special Fund. The EBRD also plans to provide an equity bridge loan of up to US$5.5 million (US$4.9 million) for the project.
The EBRD is proud to finance this groundbreaking renewable hydrogen facility in Uzbekistan, together with its long-standing partner ACWA Power and its partner Uzkimyosanoat. “This is the first of its kind in Central Asia, a region with a high concentration of carbon-intensive and hard-to-abate industries,” said Nandita Parshad, Managing Director of the EBRD’s Sustainable Infrastructure Group.
The plant will be the second renewable hydrogen production project funded by the EBRD, following the bank's support for a renewable hydrogen facility in Egypt in 2022.
The project, supported by the Japan-EBRD Cooperation Fund, will contribute to replacing grey hydrogen, produced from natural gas and widely used in the production of ammonia fertilizer in Uzbekistan, with renewable hydrogen, which is recognized as an important alternative towards the decarbonization of the fertilizer production sector.
Once operational, the facility is expected to produce up to 3,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year, reducing annual CO2 emissions by approximately 22,000 tonnes.
HIPCA is supported by Austria, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the Taiwan ICDF, the UK and the USA.
Uzbekistan has been the largest recipient of EBRD financing in Central Asia for the fourth consecutive year. To date, the Bank has invested almost $5 billion in 164 projects in the country, much of it in support of private entrepreneurship.
