Khojayev said that if he were energy minister, he would reduce gas consumption in power generation and place greater emphasis on solar energy.
“Gas is already in short supply,” he said.
The remarks came after Alisher Dushanov, deputy governor of Khorezm region, raised concerns about the operating conditions of a 174 MW gas-engine power plant operated by Odas Enerji CA.
According to Dushanov, the plant generated UZS 168 billion worth of electricity in January–June 2026, UZS 5 billion less than in the same period of 2025.
Despite the plant’s installed capacity of 174 MW, the National Dispatch Center under the Ministry of Energy has been ordering only 50–60 MW of electricity from the facility, Dushanov said. He attributed the lower orders to a sharp increase in solar power generation this year.
“As a result of the reduced orders, the company is operating at low capacity,” Dushanov said, asking the Ministry of Energy and National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan to purchase all of the electricity generated by the plant.
In response to a question from Khojayev about the terms of the public-private partnership agreement, Dushanov said the contract does not require the state to purchase all electricity generated by the plant. Purchases are made according to the government’s needs, he said.
A representative of Odas Enerji CA noted that the power plant runs on natural gas.
Khojayev instructed officials to include the issue of purchasing electricity from Odas Enerji CA in the meeting protocol so that the company’s output could be purchased when the need arises.
