EBRD finances first utility-scale wind power plant in Azerbaijan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is financing the construction of a 240-megawatt (MW) wind power plant in eastern Azerbaijan. This will be the first utility-scale wind power project in the country and the largest in the Caucasus region.

The Bank has arranged a syndicated loan worth US$197.1 million (€186.9 million) to ACWA Power Azerbaijan Renewable Energy, the project company owned by ACWA Power, an international developer, investor, co-owner and operator of a portfolio of power-generation and desalinated water-production plants. The project will be co-financed by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund).

Once commissioned, the plant’s 240 MW of renewable energy will generate up to 893 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean electricity annually. It is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 400,000 tonnes annually.

This wind power project in Absheron and Khizi follows last year’s investment in the first utility-scale solar power plant in Garadagh. The Bank is a major enabler of the country’s ambitious green agenda, through investment as well as technical cooperation and policy dialogue anchored in the memorandum of understanding signed between the EBRD and Azerbaijan in December 2022.

The EBRD is an important institutional investor in the Caucasus region. To date, the Bank has invested more than €3.6 billion in 188 projects in Azerbaijan and focuses on helping the country diversify its economy and support its green climate goals.

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Press release