Central Asia taps Saudi funds for renewables push

Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power makes inroads in Central Asia through investment in renewables and green hydrogen

Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev beat the increasingly well-trodden path to Saudi Arabia in mid-August, following in the footsteps of his Kazakh counterpart three weeks earlier. While Western leaders seek the kingdom’s oil, the Central Asian states—which have hydrocarbons aplenty—are looking to tap its deepening reserves of capital to fund the buildout of renewables. The headline deals struck during Mirziyoyev’s visit called for Acwa Power—whose largest shareholder is Riyadh’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) sovereign wealth vehicle—to develop the country’s largest wind farm and explore additional co-investment in the renewables and green hydrogen space. Shortly afterwards, a senior co