Uzbekistan will refuse the use of hydrocarbons as fuel by 2050
By 2050, Uzbekistan will completely abandon the use of coal, natural gas and oil products as fuel, Deputy Energy Minister Sherzod Khodjaev said.
Khodjaev explained that Uzbekistan has joined the hydrocarbon neutrality program adopted by the most advanced countries in the world.
Among them are Japan, South Korea, China and EU countries. Hydrocarbon neutrality (carbon neutrality) or "zero emissions" means that the volume of carbon dioxide emissions does not exceed its volume absorbed by oceans and forests.
To achieve this goal in Uzbekistan by 2030, the use of renewable sources should be about 30% of the electricity generated in the country. That is, by this time, wind power plants (WPP) with a total capacity of at least 5,000 MW and solar photovoltaic power plants (PVP) with a total capacity of 7,000 MW should be put into operation.
So, in 2023 alone, it is planned to commission four PPPs with a total capacity of 1097 MW in Samarkand, Jizzakh, Navoi and Surkhandarya regions and four wind farms with a total capacity of 1600 MW in Karakalpakstan, Bukhara and Navoi regions.
According to the plans of the Ministry of Energy, by 2026 the total capacity of solar power plants in Uzbekistan will reach 4,000 MW, and the capacity of wind farms will also reach 4,000 MW. As a result, up to 25% of the electricity generated in the country will come from renewable sources, and about 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be saved annually. This amount of saved gas can provide one million households within one year.
Turning to hydropower, Khodjaev said that in 2017-2021, 11 new hydropower plants were built in Uzbekistan and 8 were modernized. As a result, 244 MW of additional capacity was created.
By 2026, 5 existing hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) will be modernized in the country, and 15 new HPPs will be built in Samarkand, Surkhandarya, Tashkent, Kashkadarya, Namangan and Andijan regions. As a result, the total capacity of hydroelectric power plants in Uzbekistan will reach 2920 MW.
Earlier, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed to create a single ring power system by 2026 through the construction of networks with a capacity of 500-750 kV. "By 2026, it is planned to increase the total generating capacity to 27,400 MW, annual output to 110 billion kWh. Then all regions of the country will be connected by high-voltage transmission lines of 500-750 kV with the creation of a single system," the presidential press service explained.