Uzbekistan plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase clean energy production
Nov 23,2021
On November 22, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting on expanding the use and development of renewable energy sources.
It was noted that the reserves of traditional energy sources, such as oil and gas, are limited. In addition, their use causes great harm to the environment. Therefore, developed countries have begun the transition to “green” energy, which is the key to stable development both today and in the future.
Large-scale work in this direction has also begun in Uzbekistan. So, on May 21, 2019, the Law “On the use of renewable energy sources” was adopted, which laid the necessary foundations for the development of the sphere. Foreign investors have been attracted, and many promising projects have been developed.
In August 2021, the country's first solar photovoltaic plant was launched in Navoi region. Another such station in Samarkand will be commissioned next month.
In 2022-2024, it is planned to build in Uzbekistan 10 solar and wind power plants with a total capacity of about 3 thousand megawatts due to foreign direct investment of $3 billion.
At the recent Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (Scotland), Uzbekistan announced its intention to reduce the specific emission of greenhouse gases per unit of gross domestic product by 35 percent by 2030. There is every reason for this. In particular, by 2026, the goal is set to increase the total capacity of solar and wind power plants in the country to 8 thousand megawatts.
In this meeting, the tasks to be implemented to achieve this goal, financial and organizational aspects were discussed.
Next year, it is planned to build 5 solar power plants with a total capacity of 900 megawatts in Khorezm, Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Namangan and Fergana regions.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed to give priority attention to these projects and ensure their timely launching. The Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Energy have been instructed to develop new projects in cooperation with international financial organizations.
The President also stressed the need for large industrial enterprises to develop renewable energy sources for their supply. It was also noted that the use of renewable energy sources by the population and entrepreneurs should be encouraged.
It was noted that the organization of the production of components and materials necessary for the future construction of solar and wind power plants in Uzbekistan itself will reduce the cost of projects, as well as create a market for domestic enterprises. In this regard, it was instructed to develop a localization program for these products.
Qualified engineers and workers will be needed for the high-quality operation of new power plants. With an emphasis that work in this direction should begin now, Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed to create a special training center in Navoi city and update the curricula of Universities taking into account modern requirements.
The Strategy for the development of renewable energy sources in Uzbekistan was presented at the meeting.
Source:Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan-Tehran