Tashkent: President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with a presentation on the work carried out in 2023 and measures planned for 2024 to implement investment policy and increase the share of renewable sources in the energy sector.
It was noted that at the end of last year, more than YS$22 billion of foreign investment was disbursed, which is 1.8 times more than the previous year.
Analyzing the work done, the head of state emphasized the importance of increasing the volume of foreign investment this year. At the same time, the main attention was assigned to electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, the building materials industry, pharmaceuticals, textile and leather industries.
The importance of targeted work with large investors, strengthening economic diplomacy and the participation of diplomatic missions abroad in attracting investments was especially noted.
The need for widespread use of special zones in the regions and opportunities for industrial cooperation in the implementation of new investment projects to create added value chains was pointed out. When resolving investment issues, heads of industries and regions are obliged to closely interact with industries, strive to diversify the regional economy and create more new jobs.
The issues of effective use and timely use of funds from international financial institutions were touched upon, and the need to prioritize these funds for social, infrastructure and water projects was noted.
The need to intensify the attraction of grants this year was also emphasized, and the task was set to expand cooperation with foreign and international organizations in the field of ecology, environmental protection, healthcare, higher education, science and innovation.
Issues regarding the development of “green” energy were also discussed at the meeting.
Currently, work continues on 28 projects based on public-private partnerships for the construction of solar, wind and hybrid power plants with a total capacity of 6.3 gigawatts. Of these, the first capacities were launched in 2023 within 7 projects totaling 2.6 gigawatts.
In particular, at a ceremony with the participation of the head of state on 27 December 2023, the power of five solar photovoltaic stations in Samarkand, Jizzakh, Surkhandarya, Bukhara and Kashkadarya regions, as well as a wind power plant in Navoi region, were connected to the network.
Currently, work is underway on 12 projects to build “green” stations and energy storage systems together with companies from countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, China, France and Switzerland.
The tasks for the full completion in 2024 of projects that began last year, plans for the creation of new green generation capacities in the coming years were discussed.
In particular, in 2024 it is planned to increase the total capacity of solar power plants to 2.6 gigawatts, wind farms to 900 megawatts, and launch energy storage devices with a capacity of 400 megawatts.
In order to ensure stable operation of the electrical power system, taking into account the growing share of intermittent power generation capacities, the head of state ordered the development of a concept for the development of electrical networks. The task was set to determine measures to modernize existing networks, construct new substations and transmission lines, introduce modern automated safety systems, digital control systems (SCADA/EMS), increase the share of reserve capacities and energy storage systems.
The meeting raised issues of increasing foreign direct investment in the energy sector.
In order to target work and expand investment cooperation with key foreign partners, who are major investors in the energy industry of our country, it was instructed to improve the activities of the Ministry of Energy in this direction.
Instructions were given to study the possibility of introducing, based on international experience, agrovoltaics – the practice of installing solar panels by agricultural producers on their fields to produce energy for their own needs or for sale, and also to make specific proposals to support this area.
