TAHSKENT, Uzbekistan, November 29. Accelerating the scaling up of renewable energy will play an essential role in the development of Uzbekistan’s power sector, the latest country outlook by the World Bank says, Trend reports.
The bank predicts that diminishing domestic gas production will result in more electrification, which, along with a restriction on new coal power generation, will move the system toward reduced emissions in the short term.
"Accelerating the scaling up of renewable energy will play an essential role in the power sector, but more broadly, technologies and fuels will need concentrated attention across the energy system to enable decarbonization," the bank's analysts state.
According to the World Bank's Country Climate and Development Report, enhanced domestic gas storage would generate greater efficiency in the utilization of gas resources over the medium and long term.
“Setting a specific target for battery energy storage systems by 2030/2035 would be appropriate, particularly if accompanied by a requirement for all gas power stations to adopt Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). There are also possibilities to use geothermal resources for district heating and cooling, especially in the Fergana Valley, the Namangan region, with a potential of 42,600 tons of coal equivalent, and the Bukhara region with 81,200 tons of coal equivalent,” the bank says.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has set goals for the production of renewable energy, aiming to increase its share of this area in the energy balance to 25 percent by 2026. This entails the addition of 15 GW of new renewable energy capacity.
In addition, according to official forecasts, by the end of 2023, the newly deployed capacities of renewable energy sources put into operation in Uzbekistan will reach 2 GW.
Earlier this year, Uzbekistan and the World Bank signed an agreement on the provision of financing in the amount of $46.2 million to reform the country’s energy sector.
The funds are said to be used to implement the project Innovative Carbon Financing for the Transformation of the Energy Sector of Uzbekistan (iCraft), aimed at producing clean energy, improving energy efficiency, and reforming energy subsidies.