Specialist: Uzbekistan produces 90% of its electricity from gas and coal – few underdeveloped countries has such a poor index 

Uzbekistan plans to create a Scientific-practical innovative center of hydrogen energy technologies. This was reported on August 28 at a meeting with experts from the Ministry of Innovative Development and the Ministry of Energy. The center will become an important base for combining the capabilities of scientific and higher educational institutions, conducting research and cooperating with advanced scientific centers of foreign countries. At the event, the head of the Department for Energy Efficiency and Resource Conservation at the Ministry of Energy, Muzaffar Khakimov, highlighted the current potential of the energy sector.

“In terms of energy efficiency, out of 147 countries of the world, Uzbekistan is ranked 74. The economy of Uzbekistan is hugely dependent on natural gas. Ninety percent of the electricity comes from gas and coal. That’s a poor indicator; only a few underdeveloped countries have such poor index. We do not have the hydrogen potential of other countries. We need to develop cooperation in this area, because in the next 50 years we need to make transition from methane to hydrogen gas. We have such expectations,” Muzaffar Khakimov said.

According to the data, the center will be established under the Institute of Materials Science. The scientific laboratory Hydrogen Energy will be equipped with special devices and will carry out scientific research on the production, storage and use of hydrogen.

8 billion soums are planned to be allocated for the establishment of the center at the initial stage. Odilhoja Parpiyev, Director of the Institute of Materials Science, also expressed his scientific considerations. According to him, the use of hydrogen increases the profit several times compared to the use of gas and coal.

“Firstly, hydrogen is environmentally friendly. Second, it is widely available in nature. Its energy properties are three to four times larger than the energy carriers we currently use, such as coal and gas. But the process of producing hydrogen is very complicated. It requires a high temperature. Hydrogen is extracted mainly in two ways. First uses methane, and second – water. The extraction of hydrogen from the methane requires a temperature above 1,200 degrees, whereas from water – 1,600 degrees. And to get such a high temperature, you have to use gas, coal or electricity. As a result, four energy units will be used to get one hydrogen unit. It’s very expensive. For this reason, we are offering new technologies. In this process, it is possible to reach such a temperature using solar power,” says Odilhoja Parpiyev.

Today, the share of solar and wind power sources in the country is 0.001%. It is expected to increase them to 13.8% by 2030.

According to the analysis of international experts, the share of hydrogen energy in the world will be 18% by 2050 and more than 40% by 2100.