The Ministry of Energy reported on the measures taken to provide households with uninterrupted power supply in the conditions of a sharp cold snap.

Reportedly, in recent days, due to the drop in temperatures, the demand for energy resources has increased significantly. Daily consumption of natural gas has increased by 20% compared to last week, and power - by 15%.

The Ministry of Energy reported the creation of more than 1,600 round-the-clock teams to handle possible malfunctions on cold days. These teams are provided with the necessary transport and backup equipment:

• power supply companies received 877 vehicles and 450 units of specialized equipment;
• gas supply companies - 220 vehicles, 259 units of specialized equipment and 567 welding machines.

Facilities providing power supply to households and social facilities have been switched to a 24-hour operation. Constant control over the execution of work has been established. The time to eliminate emergency situations has reportedly been reduced from 3-3.5 to 1-1.5 hours compared to last year.

“Unlike previous years, when mandatory restrictions were adopeted due to a lack of capacities, this year, thanks to the launch of new capacities, restrictions will be avoided,” the ministry added.

A sharp increase in demand for natural gas has led to a decrease in pressure in gas pipelines, despite the gas transmission system operating at maximum capacity, including the maximum daily gas withdrawal from underground storage facilities and supply to the network.

The Ministry of Energy has outlined the providing gas to residential buildings and social facilities (medical institutions, schools, preschool educational institutions, universities and others) as a priority. Therefore, together with the mayors' offices, schedules have been developed, according to which temporary restrictions on the operation of gas filling stations are planned to be introduced in some provinces with high consumption.

The Ministry asked consumers to "take the right approach to the priority steps being taken" and called on them to:

• handle electrical appliances and heating devices with extra care;
• not to waste energy resources as it is possible;
• not to use non-standard and energy-consuming devices;
• disconnect devices from the network if not in use;
• strictly follow recommendations for preventing carbon monoxide poisoning.

In the autumn-winter season, it is planned to supply 21 billion cubic meters of gas to consumers in Uzbekistan. An action plan for a sharp cold snap and measures for uninterrupted power supply to social institutions have been developed. The provinces have been instructed to implement gas saving opportunities.

Earlier, Energy Minister Zhurabek Mirzamakhmudov reported that a basic and worst case scenario had been developed in preparation for the autumn-winter season. At critical moments, at temperatures from -20 degrees, gas supplies to large consumers and gas stations will be limited, the use of fuel oil will be increased, energy supplies to large enterprises will be limited, etc.