The Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov at a press conference on Monday spoke about the country's preparedness for the winter, power supply, and plans for modernizing power grids.

"As I said earlier, not only in winter, but also in summer, we have had emergency situations and disruptions due to a sharp increase in consumption. I have been working as Minister of Energy for the third year now – since the end of 2022. In 2023, especially during the hot season, we, as dispatchers, were forced to temporarily cut off the power supply. We sat and distributed – to this district, to this network we introduced such and such restrictions. Yes, indeed, restrictions were introduced. But, thank God, if we don't take into account emergency situations, then last winter, only one day – in December – we imposed a restriction, and even then not for the population, but for pumping stations – by 60 MW," said the minister.

According to him, even during major accidents, restrictions on power supply have not been introduced since last year, neither in summer nor in winter.

"If everything goes according to the plan, then this year, thanks to the new capacities being connected, there will be no problems. I didn't say for nothing at the beginning: we have enough capacity in terms of generation. Moreover, now we are even exporting power to neighboring countries," Mirzamakhmudov underscored.

"35% of distribution networks have been in operation for more than 40 years"

The minister acknowledged that there were still so-called "red spots" in the power system – problematic areas, mainly in national and regional power networks.

"We have already done a lot of work in more than 900 neighborhoods, but 35% of the distribution networks have been in operation for over 40 years. In those areas where the standard of living of the population is rising, the load is also increasing." “Previously, there were only two air conditioners in the entire neighborhood, but now almost every house has an air conditioner and numerous home appliances. Consumption is growing, but the wires, transformers, and networks are not designed for such capacity,” the minister explained.

On the president's directives, a complete inventory of the industry has been carried out, identifying problem areas – "red" and "yellow" zones.

“For example, a 800 billion-soum loan has been secured for the national power grids. This year, before spring, that is, before the next summer season, all these bottlenecks must be eliminated. This work will be carried out continuously, because the population is growing, and consumption is also rising. But I can say with confidence: in terms of power production and supply, we have no problems; we only need to expedite the modernization of the networks,” emphasized the Minister.

The minister underscored that the country's power supply system was under round-the-clock oversight.

“Of course, we still have problems. I'm not saying that there will be no power outages at all. But I can say the following: in terms of power production – there is complete sufficiency. If emergency situations occur, then after the onset of cold weather, we will inform the public daily through the press secretary about the current situation,” he said.

The minister also underscored that this year's cotton harvest was good thanks to favorable weather, but there was a shortage of water.

“Thanks to the conditions created in the power sector, we not only provided ourselves with power, but also were able to additionally supply it to neighboring countries. This allowed us to create additional water reserves in the reservoirs of neighboring states,” he underscored.

Speaking about the upcoming winter, the minister expressed hope that the season will pass peacefully:

“We hope that there will be more snow and rain – because that is a blessing.” Today, during our press conference, it rained for the first time in a long time – I think that's also a kind of blessing. We are preparing for the most difficult situations, but in our hearts, we hope that everything will go smoothly."

"The main task for everyone – starting with me and all our organizations, including the workers on the ground – is to ensure the stability of power, heat, and other resources. This is our main mission," emphasized Mirzamakhmudov.

The minister added that in the event of abnormal situations, the country is ready to act according to pre-developed scenarios:

"We hope that there will be no abnormal phenomena, because winter should be a real winter: it should be cold, it should snow – that's what we are preparing for. But if abnormal situations do occur, it happens not only in our country. Look – how many countries experience blackouts... Therefore, we are developing scenarios for such cases and must be ready for them," concluded the head of the Ministry of Power.

"It's no coincidence that we switched to a 24/7– because that is our main task. The system as a whole is working, but if unforeseen situations arise, this 24/7 should ensure rapid restoration and uninterrupted operation," concluded Mirzamakhmudov.