The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $116 million financing package with ACWA Power to develop, construct, operate, and transfer the Bash 2 Wind Power Plant, a 300-megawatt facility located in the Gijduvan district of Uzbekistan’s Bukhara region. The project is a direct extension of the 500 MW Bash 1 wind farm, which reached full commissioning in March 2025, and sits approximately 7 kilometres from that earlier development. Formally approved by ADB on 24 April 2026 under project number 59324-001, the plant will feature 39 wind turbine generators of up to 8 MW each, a new 35/500 kV substation, and 1.5 kilometres of 500 kV overhead transmission line connecting to the existing Bash-Karakul overhead line. The financing structure is layered across multiple sources: $50 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources, $41 million mobilised from commercial lenders with ADB as mandated lead arranger, and $25 million from the Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund 2 (LEAP 2), an ADB-managed vehicle backed by a $1.5 billion commitment from Japan’s International Cooperation Agency. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Standard Chartered serve as parallel lenders, with ADB acting as environmental and social coordinator across the entire financing consortium. Once operational, Bash 2 is projected to generate approximately 943 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power more than 336,000 households, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around 475,000 tonnes per year.
Central Asia’s Renewable Surge Places Uzbekistan at the Heart of a Regional Energy Shift
Bash 2 arrives at a moment when Uzbekistan is executing one of the most ambitious clean energy scale-ups in Central Asia. The government has set a national target of 40% renewables in its energy mix by 2030, and a longer-range goal of adding 18.5 GW of wind and 9.3 GW of solar capacity by 2035. ACWA Power and ADB have been at the core of that push: their partnership has already produced the 500 MW Bash 1 and 500 MW Dzhankeldy wind farms, the 200 MW Nukus 2 Wind and Battery Energy Storage Project, and the Samarkand 1 and 2 Solar PV and BESS developments. Taken together with Bash 2, these projects lift ADB-supported renewable capacity in Uzbekistan beyond 2 gigawatts, a milestone that underscores how rapidly the country has moved from coal and gas dependency toward utility-scale clean power. The trajectory is comparable to what Kazakhstan has achieved through its own ACWA-led wind cluster at Zhanatas and Badadyk, where similar public-private financing structures helped unlock large-scale capacity additions across the steppe. What sets the Uzbekistan programme apart is its velocity and the depth of multilateral co-financing: AIIB, JICA through LEAP 2, and Standard Chartered lending in tandem signals that institutional confidence in Central Asian renewables is no longer tentative. This broader renewables momentum is also being reinforced by investments in smaller-scale hydropower infrastructure, including the recently announced US$60 million financing package for three hydropower plants in Uzbekistan, highlighting how the country is diversifying its clean energy portfolio across both wind megaprojects and distributed generation assets. The 25-year power purchase agreement signed with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan in November 2023, alongside an Investment Agreement with the Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade, gives Bash 2 the revenue certainty that typically eludes smaller regional markets. Construction is projected to generate at least 800 jobs, while the project also incorporates structured inclusion measures, including technical study tours for female students, to widen access to the renewable energy workforce over the long term.
Project Fact Sheet
- Project Name: Bash 2 Wind Power Plant (ADB Project No. 59324-001 / AIIB-001027)
- Location: Gijduvan District, Bukhara Region, Uzbekistan
- Project Value: US$116 million (ADB-led financing package)
- Client / Owner: ACWA Power Gijduvan Wind FE LLC (a subsidiary of ACWA Power Company)
- Key Components: 39 wind turbine generators (up to 8 MW each), 300 MW installed capacity, 35/500 kV substation, 1.5 km 500 kV overhead transmission line connecting to Bash-Karakul OHTL
- Procurement Model: Build-Operate-Transfer; 25-year Power Purchase Agreement with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan (NEGU)
- Site Area: 12,626 hectares
- Annual Generation: Approximately 943 GWh, supplying over 336,000 households
- Construction Jobs Created: At least 800 during construction; 25 permanent operational roles
- Carbon Reduction: Approximately 475,000 tonnes of CO2 per year
- Strategic Impact: Pushes ADB-supported renewable capacity in Uzbekistan beyond 2 GW; contributes to national 40% renewables target by 2030 and 18.5 GW wind target by 2035
Project Team
- Developer / Project Sponsor: ACWA Power Company (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
- Project Company: ACWA Power Gijduvan Wind FE LLC
- Lead Financier and E&S Coordinator: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
- Co-Financier (LEAP 2): ADB-managed Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund 2, backed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
- Parallel Lender: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
- Parallel Lender: Standard Chartered Bank
- Offtaker: National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan (NEGU)
- Government Counterparty: Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade, Government of Uzbekistan
- EPC Contractor: To be confirmed; supply chain audits of tier-1 and tier-2 turbine suppliers completed by ACWA Power
