28.01.2025

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev January 28 held a meeting on measures to develop the electric power industry for the period 2025-2035.

Over the past eight years, electricity production has increased by 38 percent to 81.5 billion kilowatt-hours. New capacity of 11.2 gigawatts has been created by opening up ample opportunities for the private sector. As a result, the private sector's share of generation reached 24 percent and the share of green energy reached 16 percent.

During this period, household incomes increased 1.6 times and household electricity consumption increased by 21 billion kilowatt-hours due to the use of new types of appliances. This is 2 times more than in 2016.

By 2030, our country's population is expected to reach 41 million people and the economy is expected to grow 1.5 times. Accordingly, it is planned to create value added in industry to the amount of $45 billion, increase the volume of services 3 times and launch large data centers.

For this, first of all, a stable energy supply is needed. It is estimated that 117 billion kilowatt-hours will be needed in 2030, and 135 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity will be needed in 2035. That is 1.7 times more than now.

At the meeting, the Minister of Energy presented a long-term program aimed at achieving these goals.

As noted, new power plants and energy storage capacities will be built. To connect them to the system, 7 thousand kilometers of backbone networks will be built and digital control will be implemented. This will ensure energy balance in the regions. If there is a power shortage in one region, additional capacity will be available elsewhere. To implement these works, it will be necessary to attract investments of $4 billion into the National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan over the next five years.

One of the most important tasks is to reduce the cost of electricity. One of the factors of this is alternative energy sources.

Currently, the cost of one kilowatt-hour at thermal power plants is 5-6 cents, while at solar and wind power plants it is 3 cents on average. Foreign experts also note that Uzbekistan has great opportunities for “green” energy.

On this basis, it is planned to increase the share of “green” energy in total generation to more than 50 percent by 2030. In particular, it is planned to put into operation 3 thousand micro HPPs with a total capacity of 164 megawatts, as well as small solar and wind power plants for 750 megawatts.

The day before, the Head of State emphasized that the time has come to move to a resource-saving economy model.

In particular, in industry, an additional 27 percent of the gross domestic product could be created by improving energy efficiency. At present, energy consumption at some local enterprises in the chemical and metallurgical industries is 2 times higher than the world average, and in cement production - 1.2 times.

Therefore, the goal is to save 10-15 percent of energy in each industry and reduce energy losses from the current 14 percent to 8-9 percent by 2030.

Work has begun with foreign investors on 24 gigawatt projects worth $26 billion. A large amount of equipment and construction materials will be used for them. It was noted that this is a big opportunity for local enterprises, it is necessary to develop localization and cooperation within the projects.

The tasks on stable and uninterrupted power supply to consumers, development of personnel training for the industry were defined. 

Responsible persons were instructed to develop a program for the development of the electric power industry until 2035, considering the discussed aspects.