President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a government meeting dedicated to hydropower projects on Tuesday, the presidential press service said.

According to him, hydroelectric power plants are the most effective way of normalizing the daily energy balance. He added that the cost of electricity generated from hydroelectric power plants is significantly cheaper compared to other sources. 

According to initial estimates, the country's hydroelectric potential is at 8,000 MW. “These are just the places we have studied. I believe that this figure will increase significantly. You will see that the hydropower will advance significantly in the future. Especially in the Tashkent and Surkhandarya provinces, in the Fergana Valley there is a great potential,” he said. 

Currently only 2,200 MW is in use. By attracting foreign investment and the private sector, by 2030 it is planned to increase the total capacity to 6,000 MW, he added. 

Legal and economic conditions have been created for this. In particular, a 20-year land lease has been introduced for businesses who want to organize small and micro hydroelectric power stations, as well as a system of guaranteed purchase of the electricity they produce by the state at a price of up to 1,350 soums per kWh. 

He noted that this year it was planned to build 20 small and micro hydroelectric power plants with a capacity of 10 MW, in 2024 - 38 (31 MW), however, the implementation of some projects is behind schedule. Provinceal khokims presented information on the upcoming launch of 20 stations planned for this year. 

In addition, the president instructed the chief of Uzbekhydroenergo, Abdugani Sanginov, to commission 7 large hydroelectric power stations with a total capacity of 197 MW and thereby increase electricity production to 7 billion kWh. 

Next year, the capacity of solar and wind power plants will reach 3,500 megawatts. Due to the fact that they produce electricity mainly during the daytime, the need for control capacity in the power system increases. Therefore, Uzbekhydroenergo has been instructed to develop a five-year program for commissioning hydroelectric power plants with a total capacity of 6,000 MW, without waiting until 2030, and to attract large foreign energy companies on the basis of private partnership. 

He also set a goal to present feasibility studies for large hydroelectric power station projects on the Taldyksay, Mullalak, Karangi-Tugai, Naryn and Verkhniy Pskem rivers and to attract investors for their construction. 

Previously, he instructed to review prices for electricity produced by hydroelectric power plants of Uzbekhydroenergo, which have been in operation since 2022. They must be sufficient to finance the investment programs of this company.