Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has signed a US$396 million project loan agreement in project financing with Enersok Foreign Enterprise for a natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant in Uzbekistan.

The loan is co-financed with Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Société Générale and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), bringing the total co-financing amount to US$805 million. Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) will provide insurance for the loan from the private financial institutions.

Shareholders in Enersok include Japanese firms Sojitz Corporation and Kyuden International Corporation. The project will replace the old gas-fired power plant that was built during the Soviet era with the most advanced, highly efficient combined cycle power generation plant.

Enersok will build, own, and operate an approximately 1,600-megawatt natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant in the Syrdarya region in Uzbekistan. The electricity produced by the plant will be sold to Uzbek state-owned power company JSC National Electricity Grid of Uzbekistan under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

The project is in line with the Government of Uzbekistan's energy policy. In its electricity sector's roadmap towards 2050, A Carbon-Neutral Electricity Sector in Uzbekistan, the government endorsed the continued development of more efficient, low-carbon power generation infrastructure, giving priority to the modernization or replacement of existing gas-fired power plants.

In June 2020, JBIC signed a memorandum of understanding with IFC to enhance cooperation between the two organizations. This is the second co-financing with IFC since the signing of the MOU.

In the Infrastructure System Overseas Promotion Strategy 2025 (supplemented in June 2022), the Government of Japan, in support of the transition to carbon neutrality and decarbonization, established the policy of providing support for quality energy and electricity infrastructure that harnesses sophisticated technologies to reduce the burden on the environment in a way that is compatible with the energy policy of the host countries.

The loan is in line with this policy and will financially support an overseas infrastructure project where Japanese companies have invested, and will be involved in its operation and management for the long term, thereby contributing towards maintaining and improving the international competitiveness of the Japanese industry.