Crossroads Asia | Economic system | Central Asia
Amidst the vitality and electrical energy disaster, Tashkent’s pursuit of renewables is as a lot about addressing the specter of local weather change as it’s about shoring up its vitality safety.
Uzbekistan will not be the primary nation that involves thoughts when speaking about renewable vitality. However the gas-dependent nation with intensive fossil gas reserves and a decaying network of Soviet-era transmission infrastructure is making strides towards unlocking its potential for wind and solar energy and outpacing its neighbors within the course of.
Amidst the energy and electricity crisis, the pursuit of renewables is as a lot about addressing the specter of local weather change as it’s about shoring up its vitality safety. Uzbekistan is showing to take steps away from Russian energy imports and uncertainties in trading electricity regionally and shifting towards new companions, notably within the Center East and China.
Whereas the nation leads its Central Asian counterparts in planning new renewables, Uzbekistan nonetheless faces quite a lot of hurdles in its vitality transition away from fossil fuels in pursuit of vitality safety.
Uzbekistan has a goal of reaching more than 30 percent renewable energy electricity capacity (around 15 gigawatts) by 2030. Presently the nation has solely two large-scale working photo voltaic farms, every 100 megawatts. The nation is pursuing a complete of 8.8 GW of potential wind and enormous utility-scale solar energy through initiatives which have both been introduced or are within the pre-construction or development phases.
Uzbekistan’s potential portfolio contains 5.6 GW of utility-scale photo voltaic and three.1 GW of wind energy at varied stages of development. Three-quarters of potential wind initiatives and almost half (48 p.c) of potential utility-scale photo voltaic initiatives are but to succeed in pre-construction or development levels, nevertheless, suggesting completion of those initiatives may very well be a great distance off.
Nonetheless, the majority of the nation’s potential capability, 58 p.c (5.1 GW), is scheduled to be linked to the grid by 2025. This determine doesn’t rely 1.4 GW of capability that has been shelved or different nascent initiatives which have but to succeed in a sophisticated stage of growth.
Two key actors in Uzbekistan’s renewable vitality growth have emerged from the Center East, with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Energy and the Emirates’ Masdar planning 3.1 GW and three.2 GW of potential wind and utility-scale photo voltaic, respectively. These two corporations account for almost three-quarters (73 p.c) of all potential capability in Uzbekistan.
Extra extensively, the 2 corporations are additionally lively in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, with Masdar additionally developing renewables in Tajikistan, solidifying their place because the predominant gamers within the Central Asian vitality sector, and doubtlessly decreasing Russian influence within the course of. China’s Gezhouba Group and PowerChina are main potential photo voltaic initiatives.
Whereas progress on renewables is commendable, Uzbekistan continues to be closely investing in the development of oil and gas and stays depending on fossil gasoline to generate 85 percent of its electricity. Along with limitations to renewable energy development, issues stay concerning the potential dangers of renewable vitality initiatives for native communities and wildlife, together with vulnerable and endangered species. Uzbekistan additionally lacks a plan to phase out fossil fuels, weakening the nation’s street to carbon neutrality by 2050.
On the similar time, ACWA Energy can be planning to make use of no less than 2.6 GW of its wind and photo voltaic farms solely for inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing, nonetheless a largely unproven expertise. The hydrogen would ostensibly be used domestically to decarbonize Uzbekistan’s chemical industry, which is extra sustainable than constructing a 40 GW wind and solar complex for hydrogen export as Kazakhstan at present plans to do. The risks related to inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing might undermine each vitality safety and a simply and equitable decarbonization.
Going through the formidable activity to attain vitality safety and decarbonization, Uzbekistan must stability the necessity for a safe vitality provide with different priorities akin to reliability, affordability, and fairness.
