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Nazrin Abdul

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"If the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan joint project to lay a cable line under the Caspian Sea is successfully completed, Uzbekistan will be positioned to export surplus electricity to Europe starting in 2030".

Uzbekistan's Energy Minister, Jurabek Mirzamahmudov, made this announcement at the inaugural meeting of Central Asian energy ministers held in Astana, Azernews reports.

Mirzamahmudov revealed that by the end of this year, Uzbekistan plans to boost its renewable energy capacity to over 4 GW. Of this capacity, between 2 GW and 5 GW will be exported to Europe, with total export volumes expected to surpass 20 GW by 2030.

The exact amount of electricity exported will depend on the transmission system's capacity and European demand.

The planned route for this electricity involves it traveling from Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan via the Central Asia Common Energy System, then across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. From Azerbaijan, it will pass through Georgia and continue via an underwater cable across the Black Sea to Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria.

According to Uzbekistan’s development strategy, the country aims to increase its total generation capacity 2.4 times to 44.9 GW by 2030. Renewable energy sources are expected to make up 40% of this capacity. To achieve this, Uzbekistan will implement solar and wind energy projects with a combined capacity of 18.8 GW (8.6 GW from solar and 10.2 GW from wind).

This initiative follows the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation on May 1 at the Tashkent Investment Forum, where Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan agreed to integrate their energy systems to deliver "green electricity" to Europe.

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