ENERGY OF THE FUTURE

Tashkent has hosted a big forum on the development of renewable and alternative energy. Green Forum - 2016 has not only provided an opportunity for industry representatives to discuss the state and prospects of the sector, but to come up with specific proposals to contribute to the development of renewable energy sources.

During the forum, Tashkent has turned into a kind of a capital for experts, researchers and businessmen who are engaged in building the environmentally friendly and energy-efficient future.

Effective and rational use of energy resources ranks among the priorities in all sectors of the economy in Uzbekistan. The focus is laid on the replacement of worn-out and outdated production capacities with energy-saving technologies, their exclusive application in new projects, the introduction of electric and gas-saving equipment in the production process, the reasonable use of available raw materials, as well as the promotion of recycling projects, distribution of renewable energy sources (RES) in major and auxiliary production facilities.

Research works in the field of energy generation, transmission and consumption, taking into account the use of renewable energy and exchange of experience with international experts, are seen essential in this context, the more so Uzbekistan has been actively exploring the legislative, technological and innovative experience of Germany, Spain, South Korea, involving experts and practitioners in energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy sources.

Experts predict that the share of renewable energy in the energy balance of Uzbekistan will exceed 7% by 2030. Electricity generation will increase by 5 billion kW/h through the reconstruction and construction of new hydroelectric power stations alone.

“The use of renewable energy on the industrially significant scale would significantly reduce the natural gas consumption in the country for the generation of electric and heat energy, and, consequently, emissions of harmful substances into the environment. Therefore, we need to develop the mechanisms that will help us to strengthen energy independence. This comes to diversification of fuel resources, an increase in the share of coal, water resources and renewables, shift to the path of energy-efficient development and the production, in which the share of intellectual investment exceeds the share of energy intensity,” said the head of laboratory at the Institute of Energy and Automation of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan Romen Zahidov.

Uzbekistan possesses exclusive opportunities for the development of solar energy in terms of geographical location and climatic conditions. The number of sunny days exceeds 320 days per year, which is advantageous to many regions of the world.

According to experts, the gross potential of solar energy in Uzbekistan exceeds 51 billion tons of oil equivalent. These resources can produce electricity that exceeds the volume of annual consumption 40 times. The country has developed a wind map, which suggests that wind energy potential is estimated at more than 520,000 MW of installed capacity.

THE NEWSPAPER "UZBEKISTAN TODAY"