The volume of electricity production at hydropower plants (HPPs) in Uzbekistan decreased by 23% due to low water this year, the Ministry of Energy said.

Reportedly, this year's situation is typical not only for Uzbekistan, but for the countries of Central Asia. As previously reported, Kyrgyzstan is also experiencing an energy crisis, and the water level in the Toktogul reservoir, whose hydroelectric power station generates more than 33% of the country's electricity, may fall to the "dead volume" horizon.

According to the estimates of the Ministry of Energy, in 2020 and 2021, the volume of electricity production at hydropower plants in Uzbekistan decreased to 5 billion kWh against 6.5 billion kWh in 2019, and the missing 1.5 billion kWh would be enough to supply the entire population of the country. electricity for one month in the autumn-winter period.

The ministry added that due to this decrease, short-term power outages are observed in some provinces of Uzbekistan.

“At present, all measures are being taken in our country to generate electricity in the planned volumes at thermal power plants,” the press service added.

According to forecasts, by 2030, the growth of electricity consumption in Uzbekistan is expected to reach 110 billion kWh. At the same time, over the past two years, Uzbekistan has resumed imports of electricity from neighboring countries of Central Asia to meet the needs of the population and industry, especially during the peak load in winter.