After missing its original 2022 commissioning target and a revised 2023 deadline, the Aksu River cascade made tangible progress in 2025. Reporting from Uzbekistan’s energy sector confirmed that construction on the Rabat, Chappasuy and Tamshush plants began in earnest from April 2025, with completion projected for September 2025. A 35 to 110 kV transmission line connecting the cascade to the Gissarak HPP substation is included in the scope, adding 22 km of new grid infrastructure to the project.

Uzbekhydroenergo Sets Records as Sector Expands at Pace

The three Kashkadarya plants form part of a dramatically accelerating national hydropower programme. Uzbekhydroenergo closed 2025 with a record output of 6.5 billion kWh, with capital investments under state programmes reaching $237 million for the year. The company’s installed capacity has grown from 1,604 MW across 36 facilities at its founding to over 2,400 MW across more than 100 stations, driven by $1.3 billion in cumulative investment. Fifteen new installations with a combined 152 MW are scheduled to come online in 2026. This hydropower acceleration is unfolding alongside Uzbekistan’s rapid scale-up of utility-scale renewables, including the recently financed Bash 2 wind power plant in the Bukhara region, which secured US$116 million in ADB and ACWA-backed funding as part of the country’s broader clean energy expansion strategy.

Project Overview

• Project Name: Uzbekistan Sustainable Hydropower Project (Rabat, Chappasuy and Tamshush HPPs)
• Location: Aksu River, Shakhrisabz District, Kashkadarya Region, Uzbekistan
• Developer/Owner: JSC Uzbekhydroenergo
• Total Cost/Value: $75.3 million (total project cost; $60 million from ADB loan)
• Scale/Capacity: 24 MW total installed capacity (Tamshush 10 MW, Chappasuy 8 MW, Rabat 6 MW) plus 1 MW from mini/micro hydro units; annual output of 97.5 million kWh; associated 22 km 35 to 110 kV transmission line
• Construction Start: April 2025 (full mobilisation, following earlier delays)
• Expected Completion: September 2025 (per latest available reports)
• Funding/Financing: $60 million ADB loan (25-year term, approved October 2019); supplementary financing from French Development Agency (€55.8 million, 20-year term); total project cost $75.3 million
• Current Status: Under construction as of mid-2025; commissioning status not yet independently confirmed in public sources
• Key Milestone: Construction mobilised April 2025 after project missed its original 2022 and revised 2023 commissioning targets; ADB environmental and social monitoring reports filed through end of 2022

Project Team

• JSC Uzbekhydroenergo — Developer, Owner and Operator
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) — Primary Financier ($60 million loan, project ref. 50130-002)
• Agence Française de Développement (AFD) — Co-Financier (€55.8 million, 20-year loan)
• Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan — Government Counterpart and Loan Recipient
• Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan — Regulatory and Strategic Oversight
• Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan — Sector Authority and Tender Announcer
• Project Supervision Consultant (international firm, appointed via ADB tender) — Construction Supervision, Commissioning and Capacity Development
• EPC Contractor (selected via ADB international competitive bidding, name not publicly disclosed) — Design, Procurement and Construction

Reported 12th September 2020: The state of Uzbekistan has recently received a US$60 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB)  for the construction of three hydropower plants. Uzbekhydroenergo the state’s hydropower producer and developer, on September 8 announced it has signed a 25-year loan agreement. The loan will support the implementation of Uzbekistan’s rigorous national energy strategy to generate a quarter of all electricity from renewable sources by 2030, including 3.8 GW of hydro energy. It follows the recent announcement of a new 20-year, €55.8 million loans from the French Development Agency to support investment projects in Uzbekistan’s hydropower sector. The new HPP projects, which are scheduled for commissioning in 2022, will add 97.5 million kWh of cheap and environmentally friendly electricity production, annually. They will create over 40 jobs, increase hydropower’s share in the country’s energy balance, save fuel resources, and meet the growing demand for electricity.

Three new hydropower plants (HPP) will be built on the Aksu River, as part of the ADB’s Sustainable Hydropower Project. The total installed capacity will be 24 MW, comprising; Tamshush HPP (10.3 MW), Chappasuy HPP (7.5 MW), and the Rabat HPP (6.2 MW). US$$23.6 million will be used for the procurement of machinery and equipment and US$21.6 million for construction and installation works.

Also Read: Construction of 120MW Lower Kopili hydropower project in India begins.

The projects complement Uzbekhydronergo’s ‘Project Factory’ initiative, which is already underway and promoting the development and implementation of new investment projects based on modern technologies. The initiative comprises 23 projects with a projected capacity of 907.5 MW, worth $1.37 billion. By the end of 2020, it is expected that seven projects with an additional capacity of 118.3 MW will have been commissioned. Feasibility studies for the new HPP projects were carried out with the support of international financial institutions and foreign governmental bodies in line with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan guidelines.