Beside the ancient ruins of the Silk Road in Samarkand, a future of green energy is quietly unfolding. On May 5th, during the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, the Jijuwan district of Bukhara region in Uzbekistan welcomed a milestone agreement - Saudi energy company Acwa successfully raised $226 million for the Bash-2 wind farm project, marking a new stage in the development of wind power in Central Asia.

The Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank jointly signed a financing agreement. Among them, the Asian Development Bank provided 116 million US dollars and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank contributed 107 million US dollars, covering more than two-thirds of the project cost. This cooperation highlights the confidence of international capital in the renewable energy market in Central Asia.

The project is planned to be put into operation in the second half of 2027 and will supply power to the Ukrainian State Grid through a 25 year power purchase agreement. Wind farms can reduce 475000 tons of carbon emissions annually, equivalent to providing clean energy for 336000 households and helping Uzbekistan achieve its energy transition goals.

Currently, there are two gigawatt wind farms constructed by Acwa in operation in the Bukhara region. The new project will further improve the layout of the Central Asia wind power corridor, and Acwa plans to launch new projects in the Sildaria region to continue promoting regional energy structure optimization.Editor/Yang Meiling