TASHKENT

Uzbekistan plans to increase the economic growth of the country by 1.5 times, thus doubling Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to at least $100 billion in the next five years.

Uzbekistan’s GDP volume was at around $54 billion in 2020, according to the State Statistics Committee.

Under President Shevkat Mirziyoyev, the populous Central Asian nation has embarked on ambitious reforms in recent years, and the country expects the launch thousands of medium and large industrial enterprises in the coming years which will increase energy demand.

“…The demand for electricity will reach 100 billion kilowatt-hours. This is 30 billion kilowatt-hours more than we have now. Therefore, we have very big plans for the implementation of new reforms and projects in the electric power industry,” the president said at the launching ceremony of the 100 megawatts photovoltaic station in Karmana district of central Navoi region, the first private enterprise to generate and sell energy in the country of 34 million.

The president added that over the past five years, the number of entrepreneurs has increased by 25 percent, and the volume of their electricity consumption by 30 percent.

Over the next five years, an additional 11,500 megawatts of new capacities will be commissioned in 19 projects worth $6.5 billion. By 2030, the share of renewable sources in the structure of electricity generation will exceed 30 percent, according to official forecasts.

President Mirziyoyev, since he came to power in 2016, prioritised reforming the country’s energy system by opening up it to foreign investors offering public-private partnership in the power sector.

Over the past six months of this year, Uzbekistan has signed ten contracts for the construction of thermal, solar and wind power plants in the electric power industry with a total capacity of 4,341 megawatts, which is about a third of the current capacity of operating power plants in the country.

Uzbekistan has been keen to develop clean energy in recent years and has recently increased its renewable energy target to a total of 12 gigawatts by 2030.

The country hopes to increase its photovoltaic (PV) solar plant capacity from the current forecast of 5 gigawatts to 7 gigawatts and wind power generation from 3 gigawatts to 5 gigawatts, according to its updated energy development concept.

Mirziyoyev said that by 2025 all necessary conditions would be created for private investors to produce up to 50 percent of the country’s electricity.