Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power (2082.SE) will build two solar plants in Uzbekistan with a total capacity of 1.4 gigawatts and three power storage systems with a combined capacity of 1.2 gigawatts, Uzbekistan's Energy Ministry said on Saturday.

The two parties have signed investment agreements on the project worth $2.5 billion and deals under which Uzbekistan will buy power from the facilities, the ministry said in a statement.

Under the deal, ACWA will construct a 400 megawatt plant and a storage facility with the same capacity in Tashkent province, a 1 gigawatt plant and a 400 megawatt storage system in the Samarkand region, and 400 megawatts of storage in Bukhara province.

Uzbekistan faces natural gas shortages for its traditional gas turbine plants due to natural production declines at maturing fields. It has in recent years signed deals for a number of renewable energy projects, attracting investors, many of them from the Gulf, with lucrative contracts that include features such as prices fixed in hard currency.

The former Soviet republic plans to produce more than a third of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.