TASHKENT (TCA) — The government in Uzbekistan will compensate for nearly a third of the purchase price of solar panels if citizens decide to use solar power to generate electricity and heat water, Xinhua news agency reported citing an Uzbek energy official.
“Individuals will get compensation in the amount of 30 percent of the costs when they purchase Solar Photovoltaic Systems and Solar Water Heaters (SWH), as well as energy-efficient gas stoves,” Sherzod Khodjaev, Uzbek deputy minister of energy, told reporters at a press conference late in August.
People can hope for 30 percent compensation if it does not exceed 3 million Uzbek soums (about 320 U.S. dollars) for Solar PV Stations and 1.5 million soums for SWHs, according to the deputy minister.
Experts say that in Uzbekistan’s sharply continental climate, solar panels have proved to be very efficient and it is an ideal solution for remote areas.
Uzbekistan plans to increase the share of renewable energy to more than 25 percent of the total electricity generation in the country by 2030.
The total potential of solar energy in Uzbekistan exceeds the equivalent of 51 billion tons of oil, according to expert estimates.
In power generation, Uzbekistan remains heavily dependent on coal- and natural gas-burning power plants, but the country aims to increase the share of renewable energy generation in the coming years.
Uzbekistan also reached a deal with Russia in 2018 to build the country’s first nuclear power plant.
