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EBRD to support pilot project to decarbonize fertilizer production in Uzbekistan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will help decarbonize fertilizer production and power generation in Uzbekistan by financing a pilot renewable hydrogen production facility, the bank’s press service told Gazeta.uz.
The facility will consist of a 20 MW electrolysis plant and a new 52 MW wind farm.
The project will help replace grey hydrogen, produced from natural gas and widely used in ammonia fertilizer production in Uzbekistan, with renewable hydrogen. The latter is recognized as a key alternative for decarbonizing the fertilizer production sector, the report says.
Once operational, the plant is expected to produce up to 3,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year and reduce annual CO2 emissions by around 22,000 tonnes.
The facility will be the second renewable hydrogen project financed by the EBRD, following the bank’s support for a renewable hydrogen plant in Egypt in 2022.
The EBRD is offering a $65 million financing package to ACWA Power UKS Green H2 for the development, design, construction and operation of the facility. The special purpose vehicle is jointly owned by Uzkimyosanoat and ACWA Power (an international developer, investor, co-owner and operator of power and desalination plants).
The financing package consists of a $55 million senior loan from the EBRD and concessional financing of up to $10 million from Canada under the High Impact Partnership on Climate Action (HIPCA) Special Fund. The EBRD is also planning to provide an equity bridge loan of up to $5.5 million for the project.
“The EBRD is proud to be financing this important renewable hydrogen production facility in Uzbekistan together with our long-standing client ACWA Power and their partner Uzkimyosanoat. This is the first project of its kind in Central Asia, a region with carbon-intensive industries where emissions reductions are difficult to achieve,” said Nandita Parshad, EBRD Managing Director for Sustainable Infrastructure.
HIPCA is supported by Austria, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), the UK and the US.
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