Energy development of Uzbekistan presented at EXPO in Dubai
Energy development of Uzbekistan presented at EXPO in Dubai
Dubai, TGO: A presentation of the modern development of the energy sector of Uzbekistan was held on 12 February 2022 at the World Expo held in Dubai.
In the national pavilion of Uzbekistan, the delegation of the Ministry of Energy of the country presented the current stage of reforming the fuel and energy complex (FEC) of Uzbekistan with special emphasis on the intensive development of renewable energy projects.
As noted in the presentation, the goal of reforming the energy sector, as well as modernizing and increasing generating capacities, is to ensure the energy security of Uzbekistan, on which a stable energy supply of the current and future population of the country, its growing economy is based.
Over the past 5 years, in the energy sector of the country, the processes of transferring the work of the industry in the conditions of market relations, real competition, as well as updating the infrastructure, the state of which has not been given due attention over the past decades, have been intensively going on.
In order to meet the growing demand for energy resources of consumers of the republic, the Ministry of Energy and the leadership of the country, based on expert analysis, set the task of increasing electricity generation by 2 times by 2030, that is, up to 135.0 billion kWh (the indicator for 2021 is 71 .4 billion kWh).
So, according to the data for 2021, the number of consumers is 7 million 515.9 thousand, which is 1194.8 thousand more than in 2016. Of these, 356.3 thousand are legal consumers, the number of which increased by 88.9 thousand.
The indicator of average daily electricity consumption in the country in 2016 was 142.1 million kWh, while in 2021 it is already 205.1 million kWh, or 44.3% more.
In recent years, much attention has been paid to the renewal and modernization of electrical networks and transformer points, that is, the infrastructure that serves to deliver a growing amount of electricity to the consumer. Over the past five years, up to 40 thousand 700 kilometers of low-voltage power lines have been modernized and built, which is almost 4.4 times more than in the period from 1991 to 2016, that is, the previous 25 years (9 thousand 300 km.)
Since 2017, 15% of the total number of transformer points, which is almost 13 thousand units, have been modernized and updated.
In the current 2022 alone, 28,000 kilometers of low-voltage power lines will be repaired (or 6 percent more by 2021) and 9,700 transformer substations (an increase of 8 percent). Infrastructure renewal tasks continue to be implemented at an intensive pace; by 2026, 80,000 kilometers of power transmission lines and more than 20,000 transformers should be gradually modernized.
During the presentation, a special place was given to the growth of generation (electricity production), including with the participation of renewable energy projects. It was noted that in the construction of solar photovoltaic stations (PVP) an important role is played by cooperation with the leading companies of the United Arab Emirates UAE, such as Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company – Masdar.
On the basis of the public-private partnership Masdar, a project is currently being implemented to build a PV power plant with a capacity of 100 MW in Navoi region. This Emirati company is also the winner of tenders to identify investors for FES projects in Samarkand and Jizzakh regions. Also, by the end of this year, 3 HPPs with a total capacity of 21 megawatts will be put into operation in the Samarkand region. The process of modernization of the Tupalang, Buzsuy, Akkava and Khishrav HPPs is underway, the capacity of which will increase by 152 megawatts in total.
By 2030, the task was set to bring the volume of renewable energy in generation up to 25%.
Currently, the bulk of electricity (up to 90%) is produced at the country’s thermal power plants. The available production capacity of the energy system today is 14,563 MW. In 2000, this figure was 7 thousand 750 MW, in 2016 – 10 thousand 830 MW. That is, over 16 years, 3,000 MW have been practically commissioned, and the same number – only in recent years. Such an increase in production capacity in 2017-2021 was achieved mainly due to the commissioning of new combined cycle gas plants (CCGT) at the Navoi, Talimarjan, Tashkent thermal power plants, as well as the Takhiatash thermal power plant and the Fergana thermal power plant. A new Turakurgan TPP with a capacity of 900 MW was also launched.
In total, thermal and solar power plants with a total capacity of 1,474 MW will be put into operation in Uzbekistan by the end of this year. As a result, the total capacity of the energy system will exceed 16 thousand megawatts, which is 53% higher than in 2016.
The increase in generation, including through the construction and commissioning of new power plants, continues, and 2022 can be called unprecedented in this direction.
This work will be continued, and its result should be an increase in the capacity of the country’s energy system to 27,400 MW by 2026 and to 32,000 MW by 2030.
During the presentation, the role of introducing modern energy-saving technologies and equipment was noted, in which cooperation with recognized international leaders in this area plays a significant role.
The process of forming a legislative framework for ensuring the energy security of the country and developing the energy sector based on a market economy is underway intensively. This will allow authoritative international companies to participate even more actively in the energy development of Uzbekistan.
