(Interfax) – Uzbekistan has raised a $100 million loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to renovate two hydroelectric power plants in the Tashkent region, Farkhad (فرهاد) HPP and HPP-14 of the Lower Bozsui Cascade.

A source in the government circles told Interfax that representatives from the bank and the Uzbek government signed a loan agreement on Tuesday in Tashkent during a meeting of the Arab Coordination Group.

The modernization of the HPPs projects to replace generators and turbines, as well as electrical equipment, relays and communications systems. The project’s execution will help boost the generating capacity of the two HPPs by 30 MW in total.

The project is valued at US $165.7 million and will be implemented in 2012-2015. In addition to the abovementioned loan, the project will be financed with funds from state company Uzbekenergo.

Uzbekistan’s installed electricity capacity comes to 12.4 GW of which 12 GW comes from Uzbekenergo. Up to 90% of electricity in the country is produced at 10 combined heat and power plants. The country’s 29 HPPs are largely connected through a cascade system and powered by water flow.