“National Electric Networks” JSC names main causes of energy shortage in Uzbekistan

Ulugbek Urinov, head of the press service of the “National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan” JSC, said that the onset of cold weather provoked many problems in the field of energy, gas supply and energy supply.

“This prompted a lot of angry consumer comments on social media. Before commenting on the situation, I must say that the Ministry of Energy and system organizations have formed a special working group and staff, the outstanding problems are being eliminated accordingly by duty teams. Employees of the “National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan” JSC regularly conduct extraordinary inspections of high-voltage networks, eliminate the identified shortcomings. Repair and adjustment work is carried out by a team of power engineers day and night in an enhanced mode. Similar work is carried out in related organizations. Commenting on the current situation, it is difficult to say that some specific factor is the reason for this,” he said in an interview with UzA.

In his opinion, this situation has its own reasons.

The first and main one is related to the sharp increase in consumption observed with cooling.

The second factor is related to the first – it is the lack of natural gas fuel for electricity generation. It is known that 85-90% of the electricity produced in the republic comes from natural gas. To prevent a shortage of natural gas, a temporary hiatus has been announced in the work of CNG filling stations, as well as the activities of some industrial enterprises.

“First of all, it is necessary to understand that this is a temporary measure introduced in order to send natural gas to the population and social facilities. It is wrong to say that the volumes of energy production were insufficient. Compared to the same period last year, electricity generation even slightly exceeded the planned volume. Currently, it cannot be said that someone does not have electricity or natural gas in the house. The Telegram channel of the Energy Ministry indicates the daily volume of electricity consumption,” Ulugbek Urinov said.

The third reason is the long-term deterioration of electrical networks and gas pipelines. In accordance with a government decree of 2016, investment projects are being implemented to upgrade equipment for the supply of natural gas and electricity. At the same time, outdated equipment is being replaced with new, modern one.

A question arises: why was this not done in advance?

Modernization of electric and gas networks could not be carried out at the expense of consumers’ payments. At the same time, it was not possible to implement renovation and modernization projects that require large funds.

Today, large investment funds are attracted to the fields to upgrade old equipment and introduce modern technologies. In particular, 22 out of 86 high-voltage substations in the system of “National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan” JSC were modernized and reconstructed with the WB support. At the second stage, the remaining ones will be updated, modernized and digitized.

Conductivity has increased by about 7,000 megavolt amperes over the past 6 years. This work is currently ongoing.

The next factor is illegal connections to energy resources. If there are interruptions in electricity and natural gas in any mahalla or district, then there are illegally connected consumers. A working group is currently conducting research on this issue.

Ulugbek Urinov also said whether the situation will stabilize with the onset of warm weather.

“Today, sub-zero temperatures prevail in our country. When it warms up, the situation will improve. However, system organizations are required to pay close attention to this issue. In particular, it is necessary to accelerate the implementation of measures for the widespread introduction of renewable energy sources,” he said.

According to him, if we compare the annual consumption of the population of Uzbekistan with other developing countries, then Uzbeks use three times more electricity and natural gas.

In this case, industrial enterprises and consumers are taken into account separately. But industrial enterprises still use outdated devices. The energy intensity of industry and the national economy is almost three times higher than that of household consumers.

“If market mechanisms are introduced in the sphere of electricity and natural gas to ensure stability, the price for them will be two to three times higher than now. Efficient use of electricity has a positive effect on preventing blackouts. If we were more economical in consumption in September, October and November of this year, we would have more reserves for the production of natural gas and electricity,” the representative of the “National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan” JSC concluded.