ACWA Power to build “green” hydrogen production plant in Chirchik by December

ACWA Power will build “green” hydrogen production plant in Chirchik by the end of the year. The regional director of the company, Abid Malik, spoke about this on May 14, as part of Energy Week (UEW 2024), in an interview with Spot.

A representative of ACWA Power said that construction of the plant began jointly with a Chinese company. The production of green hydrogen and ammonia will be provided by wind power plants with a capacity of 52 MW.

“Judging by the construction progress that we are seeing, we are confident that the project will be completed by the end of December this year,” he said.

According to him, it is planned to produce “green” hydrogen at a plant in the Tashkent region for internal needs. Uzbekistan has the potential to become an exporter of green hydrogen, but this will take time.

“Uzbekistan is an exporter of fertilizers to Europe. “Green” fertilizers mean “green” ammonia, which in turn is produced from renewable energy. It is not necessary to supply hydrogen as a feedstock. It is possible to sell “green” products with higher added value,” summed up Abid Malik.

In January 2023, it became known that a plant for the production of hydrogen and ammonia is planned to be built in Chirchik. The final agreement between ACWA and Uzkimyosanoat was signed at the EBRD business forum in May.

According to the document, the project will be managed by the joint venture ACWA-UKS GH2 with a share of ACWA of 80% and Uzkimyosanoat of 20%. Project costs are tentatively estimated at $88 million.

The hydrogen produced at the plant will be used for ammonia synthesis and further production of nitrogen fertilizers. It is planned to receive up to 500 thousand tons of nitrate per year and at the same time save 33 million tons of natural gas.