Uzbekistan government has announced its plans to start exporting surplus renewable electricity to Europe by 2030. The success of this plan depends on the successful completion of a trilateral transmission project with Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. This ambitious plan involves constructing a deep-water transmission cable across the Caspian Sea.
Electricity will be first be transferred through Kazakhstan through the unified energy system of Central Asia, and then through under sea cable in Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. From there, renewable power will be taken to Georgia, and then through the Black Sea to Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria.
By the end of 2024, Uzbekistan’s renewable energy capacity is expected to exceed 4 GW, with projections indicating it will surpass 20 GW by 2030. Of this, 2 to 5 GW would be exported to Europe. By 2030, Uzbekistan aims to increase its total energy generation capacity by over 2.4 times to 44.9 GW, with renewable energy sources contributing 40 per cent, including 8.6 GW from solar and 10.2 GW from wind energy.
REGlobal’s Views: Uzbekistan, with ample land and renewable energy resources, is fast emerging as a hotspot for renewable energy investments. The country with its untapped renewable energy potential can become a major exporter of clean energy to Europe. Already, there have been a slew of announcements from large renewable energy companies like Masdar, ACWA Power and others about their plans to set up mega renewable energy projects in the country.
