Transition of Uzbekistan to renewable energy sources: challenges and prospects

. Currently, many countries worldwide are facing problems of climate change and depletion of natural resources, which requires the search for alternative energy sources. Republic of Uzbekistan, being a member of the world community, also faces these challenges. The article discusses the issues faced by Uzbekistan in the process of transition to renewable energy sources, as well as the prospects for their use.


Introduction
Currently, many countries worldwide are facing problems of climate change and depletion of natural resources, which requires search for alternative energy sources.Republic of Uzbekistan, being a member of the world community, also faces these challenges.Recently, government of Uzbekistan has been actively working on the development of renewable energy sources and is moving to their use.In this article, we will consider the problems faced by Uzbekistan in the process of transition to renewable energy sources, as well as the prospects for their use.
Currently, coal, oil and gas are the main sources of energy in Uzbekistan, but the use of these sources causes a negative impact on the environment and human health.In this regard, government of Uzbekistan is taking measures to switch to the use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, hydropower and biomass.
In this winter period, main problem was the lack of gas, which led to the limitation of gas supplies for the population and businesses.This is due to a number of factors, such as an increase in gas consumption during the winter heating period, a decrease in gas imports due to repair work on gas pipelines, and other factors [3].
However, it also showed the need to switch to renewable energy sources, as they can become an alternative not only to gas, but also to other fossil fuels.For example, solar energy can be used to generate electricity, while hydropower can be used to generate energy from water.
As we can see, the share of wind energy, solar energy and batteries in new generating capacities is growing every year.In 2023, these three technologies account for 82% of new generating capacity in the USA.This development of alternative energy sources is associated with unprecedented measures to stimulate their introduction, namely application of zero rate on the financing provided, the interest on which is financed from the state budget.
In the Republic of Uzbekistan, Decree of the President No. PP-57 dated February 16, 2023 also provides for a number of incentive measures.But the cost of equipment and its operation remains quite high.Let's give an example: the cost of 5 kW equipment on the market is approximately 20-22 million soums, the cost of similar equipment, which is given for 3 years, in supposedly interest-free installments is more than 51 million soums (why at the supposedly not the lowest cost, see olx.uz site).Indeed, according to the Decree, part of the costs will be compensated through sale and allocation of a subsidy in the amount of 1,000 soums.Even with all incentive measures in place, the average payback period for one household will be, on average, about 15-20 years [1].

Main part
In addition, transition to renewable energy sources can help to diversify and ensure a more stable energy supply, which is also important for economic and social development of the country.However, for this it is necessary to continue working on the development of new technologies and infrastructure, as well as attracting investment in this industry.As we can see, the share of wind energy, solar energy and batteries in new generating capacities is growing every year.In 2023, these three technologies account for 82% of new generating capacity in the USA.
This development of alternative energy sources is associated with unprecedented measures to stimulate their introduction, namely application of zero rate on the financing provided, the interest on which is financed from the state budget.
In the Republic of Uzbekistan, Decree of the President No. PP-57 dated February 16, 2023 also provides for a number of incentive measures.But the cost of equipment and its operation remains quite high.Let's give an example: the cost of 5 kW equipment on the market is approximately 20-22 million soums, the cost of similar equipment, which is given for 3 years, in supposedly interest-free installments is more than 51 million soums (why at the supposedly not the lowest cost, see olx.uz site).Indeed, according to the Decree, part of the costs will be compensated through sale and allocation of a subsidy in the amount of 1,000 soums.Even with all incentive measures in place, the average payback period for one household will be, on average, about 15-20 years.
In addition, transition to renewable energy sources can help to diversify and ensure a more stable energy supply, which is also important for economic and social development of the country.However, for this it is necessary to continue working on the development of new technologies and infrastructure, as well as attracting investment in this industry.As can be seen from Figure 2, the share of alternative energy sources is growing, this is due to the high cost of electricity in the EU.This fact is one of the main drivers for replacing a traditional energy source with an alternative one, as well as due to the high cost of energy, and also with a quick payback.The trend of further growth in the cost of electricity is observed due to the well-known events taking place on the territory of Ukraine.All this prompts the EU government to actively stimulate and date the population and business entities for the speedy transition to alternative energy sources.Thus, ensuring an equally important task of maintaining the energy security of the region.As can be seen from Fig. 3. world population has more than tripled since 1950, energy consumption more than six times.This indicates a greater energy consumption due to the development of technological processes in all sectors of the economy.This trend may indicate that the leaders in the development of the international economy will be precisely those countries that produce enough energy and relatively low cost.If in the 19th and 20th centuries the trend of rapid economic growth and industrialization of individual countries was associated with availability of cheap labor, then in our time everything depends on energy sources and its availability.We can also note that oil, gas and coal are still predominant fuel, but as we have repeatedly noted above, energy production from these sources remains quite high [4].§ World Bank, www.worldbank.orgAs can be seen from Figure 4, countries that actively use solar energy production are mainly countries with an active solstice throughout the year and high-tech countries.In this regard, as well as in connection with vital necessity in the Republic of Uzbekistan, it is necessary to attract investors to this sector with even more active steps, with the provision of additional preferences.

Conclusion
Currently, world community is facing the problems of climate change and depletion of natural resources, which requires the search for new energy sources.In this context, the use of renewable energy sources is becoming increasingly relevant.
Uzbekistan, like other countries, also faces challenges of climate change and depletion of fossil resources.In this regard, government of Uzbekistan is taking measures to switch to the use of renewable energy sources.However, at present, share of renewable energy sources in the total electricity production in Uzbekistan is still small and amounts to about 5%.
One of the main reasons for this is a lack of necessary investments and technologies for the development of renewable energy sources, as well as underdevelopment of infrastructure in this industry.In addition, use of fossil resources is still cheaper than renewable energy sources, which also influences the choice of energy solutions in the country.
However, transition to the use of renewable energy sources in Uzbekistan has its own advantages and prospects.Firstly, the use of renewable energy sources can reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, which increases country's energy independence.Secondly, it can help reduce negative environmental and health impacts associated with the use of fossil fuels.Thirdly, switching to renewable energy can help reduce energy costs in the long run.
There are other benefits of switching to renewable energy, such as creation of new jobs, development of innovation and technology, and increased competitiveness of country's economy in the future.
Fossil fuels are still used to generate 62% of the world's electricity, but extraordinary growth of zero-carbon wind and solar power has led to fossil fuel energy on a downward trend.Together, wind and solar power now generate more than 10% of world's electricity, twice as much as in 2015, when Paris Climate Agreement was signed.
The largest source of electricity is coal (36%), which alone is responsible for a quarter of all energy-related CO 2 emissions.However, collectively, clean electricity sources now produce 38% of the world's electricity, including hydropower (15%), nuclear power (10%), wind power (7%) and solar power (4%).
Demand for electricity continues to grow, rising by 5.4% in 2021, a new record.More and more people are getting access to electricity.Other industries are also being electrified, including transport and heat power engineering.This means that clean energy must rise to meet new demand before it starts cutting back on fossil fuel production.Few countries realize the scale of changes in the electricity grid that will occur in the next two decades.

Fig. 2 .
Fig. 2. Electricity generation in the EU by source, as of 2021 ‡

Fig. 3 .
Fig. 3. Change in the world population in relation to the use of energy resources.§

Fig. 4 .
Fig.4.Ranking of countries with the highest participation of solar energy in electricity generation.