Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised French Independent Power Producer (“IPP”) Total Eren in connection with a circa €90m loan granted by a consortium of banks for the development and operation of the 100 MWac (equivalent to 131.3 MWp) Tutly solar plant in the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan which successfully reached financial close in August 2021.
This ground-breaking transaction represents one of the first project financed solar plants in Uzbekistan using a long-term Power Purchase Agreement model and sets the groundwork for a series of new solar projects currently under tender.
The Tutly solar plant was entirely developed by Total Eren, a leading France-based IPP from renewable energy (mainly solar and wind), active globally. Tutly is one of the first IPP projects to be built in the country.
Once completed, the power plant is expected to produce 270 GWh per year, enough to supply the needs of about 140,000 people in Uzbekistan while reducing CO₂ emissions by about 160,000 tons per year. The solar farm will also support regional sustainable growth and contribute to local employment, with more than 300 workers on site during the construction phase and 15 permanent jobs created for the operation phase.
The financing of the project was granted by European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Proparco.
The WFW Paris team that advised Total Eren as sponsor and developer of the project was led by Partner Philippe Wolanski for the financing of the transaction, supported by Associates Julie-Anne Thiebaut and Daria Vorobyeva, and Partner Laurent Battoue with Associates Marine Yzquierdo and Antoine Bois-Minot for the EPC and O&M contracts.
