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Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. It shares borders with Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Kazakhstan to the north and west.

According to 2024 statistics, Uzbekistan, which in terms of size is 40^th in the world, is home to around 37 million people. In terms of population density the country is 111^th in the world out of 199 countries considered. The administrative map of the country is divided into 12 provinces with Tashkent as its capital and most-populous city. The political form of government is a presidential republic, and the official language is Uzbek. In the semi-autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, the official status is also given to the Karakalpak language [1,2,3].
The ranking positions of Uzbekistan relative to other countries have been determined for an extensive list of economic, energy, innovative and educational indices, as well as for metrics reflecting the state of the environment. The economic indices include, for example, GDP per capita, annual average GDP growth, high-technology exports, and others. The list of energy indices includes proven reserves of oil, gas and coal, production-consumption ratio combined, and energy use, etc. Each of the indices has a ranked list of included member countries. Since the number of countries in each rating is different for each index, the positioning of the country of interest is displayed on a special chart, where the vertical axis is a uniform relative scale from 0 to 1, whereas the horizontal axis denominates the various indices and respective numbers relating to the descriptions given underneath.
Thus, in such a relative “0-1” diagram, the country’s position is marked with a dot in proportion to its location in the original rating list. If the country is among the leaders regarding the selected indicator, it will be marked close to 1 in the upper green zone on the relevant chart “0-1”, if the country is an outsider in the rating list, then it will be marked in the lower red zone of the chart “0-1”, etc. A single list of indices is used for all countries. If a country is not in the ranking list for any index, then the corresponding position on the charts is not displayed.

Ranking position of Uzbekistan for list of economic indices:
 

The highest indicators for Uzbekistan depicted in the chart above are the Annual average GDP growth (0.92) and Public debt as % of GDP (0.84). In addition, Reserves of foreign exchange and gold (0.67) and GDP (0.72) are above the world average. All other presented indicators are below the world average, with the weakest being the Inflation rate (0.07) and the Charges for the use of intellectual property (0.09). Uzbekistan is not included in the Global Competitiveness Index leaving this position in the chart blank.
 

Uzbekistan has distinct proven reserves of fossil fuels in the form of natural gas and coal. The share of natural gas is 0.89% of the world’s total, the share of coal is 0.13%. The country's crude oil reserves are only 0.035% of the world total. The share of Uzbekistan population makes up about 0.44% of the world's population. At the same time, fossil fuels reserves in Uzbekistan are significantly lower than those of the world leaders. For instance, gas reserves are about 12 times less than in Qatar, while coal reserves are more than 18 times less than in Kazakhstan.
In terms of tons of oil equivalent, according to 2024 data, conventional proved reserves by fuel type were: 61.4% – natural gas, 35.6% – coal, and 3.0% – crude oil (Fig.5).

Table 1. Fossil energy resources of Uzbekistan

* share of the country’s reserves in world total is provided in brackets

Although Uzbekistan has a huge potential to generate clean energy from its abundant solar and wind resources, the country's renewable energy market is rather at the initial stage of its full-scale development. The Government of Uzbekistan plans to significantly expand the use of all renewable energy sources in the shortest possible time, with an emphasis on solar energy. This is due to more than 300 sunny days per year and high DNI solar intensity, reaching DNI solar intensity of 4.9-5.1 kWh/m² per day in the southwestern part of the country, between Kashkadarya and Sursondarya districts. In many areas of Uzbekistan, especially in the central and western regions, there are very favorable conditions for the development of wind energy, where wind speeds reach about 7.5 m/s at a height of 50 meters.
In addition to fossil fuels, another important source of energy in Uzbekistan is hydropower, but its potential is not fully utilized. The country has a significant resource both for the construction of small hydropower plants, for example in Andijan, Samarkand and Surkhandarya regions, and large hydropower plants mainly in Tashkent region.

Table 2. Renewable energy resources of Uzbekistan

*for the majority of the territory of the country

Agriculture, primarily large-scale wheat cultivation and livestock rearing, is of critical importance to Uzbekistan. Organic agricultural waste is an excellent basis for the development of bioenergy, in particular the production of solid biofuels and biogas.

UZBEKISTAN, NAVOI
Latitude: 40.13 Longitude: 65.35

Average daily sky coverage over 10 years of observations, %

CLR - clear, SCT - scattered from 1/8 TO 4/8, BKN - broken from 5/8 TO 7/8, OVC - overcast, OBS - obscured, POB - partial obscuration

Source: based on NOAA U.S. Department of Commerce
Detailed information: Interactive map of solar resources

UZBEKISTAN, NAVOI
Latitude: 40.13 Longitude: 65.35

Average daily wind speed for 10 years of observations, m/s, 10 m above the ground

Source: based on NOAA U.S. Department of Commerce
Detailed information: Interactive map of wind resources

According to [6], in 2022 in Uzbekistan, the total production of primary energy was 1.865 quadrillion Btu, while consumption was at the level of 1.854 quadrillion Btu. Thus, the share of domestic consumption in primary energy production was 99,4%. This makes Uzbekistan basically an energy-independent country (without taking into account the structure of energy consumption).
According to the Statistical Review of World Energy 2022, primary energy consumption in Uzbekistan in 2021 amounted to 1.97 exajoules and was dominated by natural gas – 84.8%, ahead of oil –8.6%, coal – 3.5%, and hydro – 2.5% [12]. 

Charvak reservoir. Envato. VQCXD36HF4

Uzbekistan already has several photovoltaic projects of various capacities in operation. One of them is the 100-megawatt (MW) Nur-Navoi solar power plant, opened in 2021 and located in Navoi region. It produces enough electricity for 31,000 households [16].
Today, a fairly decent number of solar power projects are under construction or in the planning stage. Among them is the construction of three solar power plants in Surkhandarya, Samarkand and Jizzak regions of Uzbekistan with a total capacity of 897 MW, which are expected to be completed within a few years, thus increasing access to reliable and clean energy for households and businesses [17].
Wind energy should also contribute to the expansion and diversification of green infrastructure. One of the leaders of the wind energy sector UAE company Masdar will build the 1500-megawatt wind power plant in the Zarafshan district of the Navoi region. The project is expected to begin commercial operation at a capacity of 500 MW by the end of 2024 providing electricity to power 500,000 homes, while displacing 1.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year [18].
As can be seen from the map above, the vast majority of hydropower projects are concentrated in the Tashkent region, which has a huge hydropower potential. According to [19], as of 2023, Uzbekistan's total hydropower capacity amounted to 2.1 thousand megawatts generating 6.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. The government is considering new projects such as the construction of 3 hydropower plants with 23 megawatts capacity on the Great Andijan Channel and one 16 MW plant on the Tupalang River. In addition, 26 micro hydropower plants with a capacity of 9 megawatts with the involvement of the private sector are to be built.