Uzbekistan announces development of low carbon energy strategy

Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy has announced it is to develop a national low carbon energy strategy with assistance from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and consulting company Corporate Solutions.

Commenting on the news, Alisher Sultanov, Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan, said: ‘The transition to low carbon energy will make it possible to provide our country with electricity at a high growth rate and improve our citizens’ quality of life.’

Corporate Solutions is modelling Uzbekistan’s energy system against the experiences of Germany, Japan and Spain to learn from their respective low carbon transitions. The learnings will help shape Uzbekistan’s own strategy and the process of attracting international investment. Uzbekistan plans to develop alternative energy sources, including solar, hydro and wind, to produce electricity with low carbon emissions. Uzbekistan is also building Central Asia’s first nuclear power plant, to provide the country with uninterrupted and high-quality electricity on an industrial scale.

The strategy follows the recent publication of a 10-year plan for electricity provision in Uzbekistan developed with the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. This aims to deploy up to 30 GW of additional power capacity by 2030, including 5 GW of solar energy, 3.8 GW of hydro energy, 2.4 GW of nuclear energy and up to 3 GW of wind energy. 

The aim is to reduce Uzbekistan’s greenhouse gas emissions by 10% (from 2010 levels) by 2030.