About 30% of Uzbekistan's more than 1,800 substations rated at 35–110 kV have now been modernized. First Deputy Energy Minister Umid Mamadaminov announced this on July 17, following a government meeting with the president.
According to him, complaints from individuals and businesses are treated as one of the key indicators of how well the energy sector is performing.
In the first half of the year, the fuel and energy sector received more than 39,000 complaints, most of them related to gas and electricity supply. Over the same period last year, there were more than 50,000 — meaning the number of complaints has fallen by roughly 26%.
Mamadaminov attributed the decline to new generating capacity coming online, repairs and upgrades to transmission and distribution networks, and energy-efficiency programs.
"But that doesn't mean the situation has become 100% good everywhere. The work is still being carried out in stages, and problems remain. In some provinces, for instance, substations and transformer stations are still operating under heavy load," the first deputy minister said in an interview with the Uzbekistan 24 TV channel.
The country has more than 1,800 substations at the 35–110 kV level in total. According to the Ministry of Energy, about 30% of them have been modernized so far, with upgrades to the rest built into a phased plan.
"This requires very substantial funding. The government allocates money from the state budget for this every year. It's used to modernize existing substations in stages and to build new ones," Mamadaminov said.
More than half of all complaints in the fuel and energy sector concern the supply of natural and liquefied gas to the population. Among the main problems, he cited late delivery of gas cylinders and shortcomings in the supply system itself.
The first deputy minister said the ministry is stepping up digitalization of this process and rolling out a new system expected to significantly reduce the volume of complaints.
The president has instructed officials — working together with provincial governors and local "makhalla sevens" — to resolve the systemic problems revealed by individuals' complaints before the start of the autumn-winter season, and to improve how well provinces are prepared for the period of peak energy demand.
Mamadaminov said the energy sector is moving into a new phase of development. Where the focus used to be on building generating capacity, digitalization and infrastructure renewal will now take priority.
"Over the next four years, we plan to modernize around 5,000 km of transmission and distribution networks. New substations will be built, and a digital automated control system will be introduced at all of these facilities," he said.
The ministry also plans to develop a new strategy for handling public complaints, upgrade its call centers, and introduce artificial intelligence technology there.
"In this way, the fuel and energy system is entering a new phase — moving toward digitalization and the creation of a digital power grid," the first deputy energy minister said.
The Ministry of Energy had earlier reported that on July 17, daily electricity consumption in Uzbekistan hit a new summer record of 293.4 million kWh — the fifth consecutive day a record has been set. The outages are costing businesses extra money, with some shops having to transport perishable goods elsewhere, rent generators, and buy fuel.
Stay up to date with all the latest news:
