Financing central Asia’s largest wind farm through blended finance

Zarafshan's 500-megawatt wind farm is Uzbekistan's first wind power plant. At the time of its launch in 2024, it is the largest wind plant in central Asia and will provide almost 500,000 homes with sustainable and reliable energy. It is designed, built, and operated by Shamol Zarafshan Energy Foreign Enterprise Limited Liability Company (SZE), a special-purpose vehicle owned by United Arab Emirates-based Masdar. This is Masdar’s second energy project in Uzbekistan, after the successful financing of the Nur Navoi solar project in 2020. The deal closed on November 2022, with funding raised by Natixis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD), First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank. In total, the project received over USD 175 million in long-term loan facilities from development finance institutions, including over $50M from ADB. FAB played a leading role in financing the project and functioned as the coordinator and structuring bank for a USD 102 million green loan facility, which was backed by Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), UAE’s export credit agency. The bank’s underwriting of half of the ECI-backed facility counts towards its goal to lend, invest, and facilitate business of USD 75 billion by 2030 for environmental and socially responsible activities. The wind farm is the first project since Uzbekistan re-introduced the Private Sector Investment and Finance Scheme which aims to encourage growth in the economy.