Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan took part in the first meeting of the Ministers of the Asian Partnership for Green Growth, organized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.

Among the topical issues of the "green economy" development, the participants discussed the problem of the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the latest available data, 51 billion tons of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere every year, and this amount is not decreasing. And each country participates in the process of improving this situation, following its commitments and adopted plans.

In particular, under the Paris Agreement, Uzbekistan pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent by 2030. This was noted in his report at the meeting by the first deputy minister of energy of the country Azim Akhmedkhadjayev. He stressed that in order to achieve the set goals in the Republic of Uzbekistan, on the initiative of the President of the country, a comprehensive Strategy for the transition to a "green" economy, as well as the Program for the Development of Renewable and Hydrogen Energy, is being implemented.

In the course of its movement towards green development, Uzbekistan is striving to achieve carbon neutrality through the development of green energy and an increase in the share of renewable energy sources by 3 times in the next 10 years.

By 2030, the country has set ambitious strategic goals to double power generation to 28 GW and ensure that at least 25 percent of its electricity comes from renewables, of which 5 GW from solar, 3GW from wind and 2 GW - hydropower.

On the way to achieving these goals, Azim Akhmedkhadjayev noted, in August this year the first industrial solar photovoltaic station with this capacity of 100 MW was put into operation in the country. By the end of the year, it is planned to commission 1.1 GW of new capacities, 200 MW of which will come to the share of photovoltaic plants.

Also this year, Investment Agreements will be signed for the implementation of generation projects based on renewable energy sources with a total capacity of almost 1 GW (957 MW), of which 857 MW are solar and 100 MW are wind energy.

It was also emphasized that in order to develop research and development in the field of renewable energy sources, including hydrogen, in cooperation with international partners, the Research Institute for the Development of Renewable Energy and Applied Hydrogen Energy was established under the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan.

During the report, the interrelation of further green development of energy and energy security was emphasized, for the achievement of which the reforms carried out in the field, the pragmatism of the energy transition, including the development and application of more and more modern approaches to the use of traditional resources, including oil, gas, coal, are important.

 “The issue of transition to the use of a new type of energy source is not only a matter of its introduction or discovery, but the creation and development of the necessary infrastructure and, above all, the acquisition of the necessary experience, allowing them to be used with the least harm to the environment and more benefit to mankind”, - noted the first deputy minister of energy. As an example, he cited high-tech, clean technologies at coal-fired power plants in Japan, European countries, and Saudi Arabia, which proves that, thanks to the accumulated centuries of experience and existing technologies, the use of the same coal is possible with minimal emissions.

The first meeting of the Ministers of the Asian Green Growth Partnership was a significant step in coordinating the efforts of the international community to work out effective paths for green development, which is an urgent need for every country.