Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A delegation of Uzbekistan, led by First Deputy Minister of Energy J. Mirzamakhmudov, takes part in the eighth International Renewable Energy Conference (IREC) in Seoul.

IREC is the world's largest renewable energy conference held by national governments every two years. It provides a forum for politicians and experts to exchange views on the development of renewable energy at the national and regional levels. This was reported by the Press Service of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The forum consists of high-level plenary meetings, interactive parallel sessions and provides significant opportunities for communication and training.

The current conference is attended by 3,500 people from 108 countries, including ministers, mayors of major cities, presidents of international organizations, heads of global companies and experts.

Welcoming speech at the forum was made by the former head of the UN and the chairman of the Korean National Council on Climate and Air Quality, Ban Ki-moon. He emphasized that “the transition to clean and sustainable energy is no longer a choice, but a necessity in the face of threats to the environment and ecosystems.”

During the conference, the Uzbek delegation held talks with the Director General of the International Organization for Renewable Energy Francesco La Camera, the Deputy Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea Yong Rong Ju, and the President of the Korean Energy Agency, Kim Chang Soup.

The delegation met with the leaders of the largest companies of the Republic of Korea - KEPCO, S&K Engineering and Construction, Hyundai Engineering, Doosan Heavy Industry and visits to several power plants, including solar and wind.

Representatives of Uzbekistan also got acquainted with the activities of thermal power plants operating on natural gas and coal using advanced technologies for energy efficiency and environmental friendliness.

Uzbekistan aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the total volume of electricity production by 2030 to 30%. To achieve such results, the Ministry of Energy is taking active measures to implement large-scale projects in renewable energy.

In particular, in September of this year, an agreement was signed with the French company Total Eren on the construction of a 100 MW solar power plant in Samarkand region under PPP conditions, and in October, the results of a tender for the construction of a 100 MW solar power plant in the Navoi region were summed up, following which the emirate company Masdar is declared the winner with a tariff of 2.679 cents / kWh.

In addition, the Ministry of Energy, with the assistance of the World Bank, the Asian Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is currently implementing a set of measures to competitively select in 2020 solar and wind power projects with a total capacity of more than 700 MW.