ACWA EBL (IFC-48734)

Regions
  • Europe and Central Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Uzbekistan
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Sazagan, Gallyakuduk, Maydayap (Samarkand region) and Karakul (Bukhara region)
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jun 13, 2024
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
ACWA Power International
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 240.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 240.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 1,400.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Apr 29, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Apr 5, 2024

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the IFC, the proposed investment involves providing an Equity Bridge Loan (“EBL”) facility for the development and operation of 1 Gigawatt (GW) of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) and 1 GWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and associated interconnection facilities in Uzbekistan.

The Project is composed of two sub-projects: Samarkand 1, which includes 100MW Solar PV located 3km southeast of Sazagan city, 400MW Solar PV located 7 km south of Gallyakuduk City and a 500 MWh BESS plant, located 19km east of city of Samarkand. Samarkand 1 sub project will cover a total land of 1,041 hectares in the Samarkand region. Samarkand 2, which includes a 500MW Solar PV plant located 14 km east of Maydayap city in the Samarkand region and a 500 MWh BESS plant located in the outskirt of Karakul city in the Bukhara region. Samarkand 2 will be covering a land of 1,112 hectares

The Project will be undertaken by two limited liability companies established in Uzbekistan and owned by ACWA Power International, and the electricity generated from the two projects will be sold to Uzbekistan’s state-owned electricity utility, JSC National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan under a 25-year power purchase agreement, including a 10-year BESS term.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

As stated by the IFC, the project cost is estimated to be around US$1.4 billion across the two sub-projects, with an expected Debt to Equity split of 75:25. ACWA intends funding up to US$240 million of its Equity contribution through EBLs to the projects.

The proposed investment involves a 4-year loan of (i) approximately US$228 million from IFC’s own account, and (ii) approximately US$12 million from IFC acting in its capacity as implementing entity for the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program.

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by the IFC, the Project will be majority owned by ACWA Power Company. ACWA is a large, highly experienced developer and operator of utility-scale power and water projects globally. ACWA has a portfolio of 81 multi-stage private power and water projects with a cumulative capacity of 55.1 GW power and 7.6 million m3 per day of desalinated water across 12 countries globally. 

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
JSC National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan Buyer Energy contracts with ACWA Power Company Client Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: +1 202-473-3800
Fax: +1 202-974-4384

Client - ACWA Power Company:

Shariq Rahman - Vice President & Corporate Finance Head
Phone: +966 50 530 4320
Email: srahman@acwapower.com
Address: Building 1, Ground Floor, Business Gate Office Complex, Airport Road, P.O. Box 22616 Riyadh-11416,
Website: www.acwapower.com

Local access to project documentation:

Abid Malik - Executive Vice President, Regional Director Portfolio Middle East Asia
Email: amalik@acwapower.com

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

How it works

How it works