Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) —  Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Central Asia is a promising energy markey. This was the assessment made by Professor Kasym Toktakhunov during the international scientific and practical conference titled "New Central Asia: Challenges and Opportunities in the Era of Global Transformation," held on 26 October in Tashkent.

The event was organized by the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in partnership with the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, the International Institute of Central Asia, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

The forum brought together over 40 leaders and specialists from leading analytical and research centers, as well as higher educational institutions from more than 20 countries across Central Asia, the CIS, Europe, Asia, North America, and the Middle East.

Professor Toktakhunov noted that Central Asia is actively working on creating a common energy market, developing multilateral dialogue, improving coordination mechanisms, and launching new joint projects.

During their first joint meeting on August 7, 2024, in Astana, the energy ministers of Central Asian countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in this field, including expanding opportunities for energy resource trading and developing modern energy infrastructure. These agreements were reflected in the final communiqué.

According to Toktakhunov, the Central Asian region has significant potential for ensuring its own energy security and successfully integrating into the new realities of global economic relations. The region holds 17% of the world’s oil reserves, 7% of the world’s natural gas reserves, significant uranium reserves, favorable geo-climatic conditions for solar energy development, and opportunities for expanding hydropower capacity.

The geography of the countries in the region and the concentration of fuel and energy resources necessitate close cooperation in the electric power sector, deeper integration, and the implementation of joint projects to ensure the sustainability of Central Asia’s energy systems and to form new value-added chains.

The existing unified energy ring "Central Asia and Southern Kazakhstan" and the functioning of the Coordination Dispatch Center "Energy" provide the necessary infrastructure and tools for enhancing cooperation in this area.

The expert also highlighted the agreements among regional states to construct hydropower plants on the Zarafshan River by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and the Kambaratinskaya HPP on the Naryn River by Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. He believes this will not only enhance the reliability of energy systems but also elevate the critical issue of water regulation to a higher quality level.

Additionally, generating electricity from Uzbekistan’s thermal power plants using natural gas supplied by Turkmenistan was identified as a promising direction. The integration project is expected to increase the volume of electricity supplied to the Unified Energy System of Central Asia while allowing Turkmenistan to diversify its natural gas market. Given that transporting electricity is nearly an order of magnitude cheaper than transporting an equivalent primary energy source through gas pipelines, this project holds significant economic attractiveness.

Moreover, solar energy was emphasized as a field with considerable potential for development in Central Asia. The expert pointed out that vast areas of land unsuitable for agricultural activities, high solar radiation, and favorable latitude provide excellent opportunities for developing solar energy infrastructure. This could lead to establishing connections through high-voltage direct current networks (1000-1500 kV) between Western China and Eastern Europe, enabling significant transfers of green energy during peak demand periods in the morning and evening.