TASHKENT (TCA) — In the next five years, Uzbekistan is planning to upgrade and streamline the operation of several hydropower plants by means of cutting-edge technologies, the country’s official Jahon information agency reported.
Uzbekistan’s hydropower plants generate around 11 percent of the country’s total electricity, but despite this low figure, the importance of this sector for the economy should not be underestimated. Hydro energy is not just electricity generation; it also addresses water supply and irrigation problems that are highly relevant for Uzbekistan’s irrigated agriculture. In addition, owing to the opportunity of quick and drastic increase in power generation, hydroelectric power plants are seen as a key element of secure operation of the entire power system. That is why the country’s state energy company Uzbekenergo has been attaching importance to the development of the hydro power sector.
The company is planning to upgrade and renovate 19 operating hydropower plants by the end of 2020. As a result, their capacity should increase up to 118.5 MW with additional generation of 600 million kWh of electricity per year, which would allow saving 250 million cubic meters of natural gas.
Implementation of 30 major investment projects on the establishment of new and the upgrade and reconstruction of existing energy facilities will be continued. They provide for the introduction of modern technologies of combined production of electricity and heat on the basis of combined cycle power plants, and an increase in the share of solid fuels in the fuel and energy balance by the reconstruction of the existing coal-fired power plants.
