Restrictions on electricity supply are being introduced in Uzbekistan due to a deficit in the grid, announced Ministry of Energy spokesperson Hasan Toshxojayev during a briefing on Monday.
On Sunday (February 18), all power plants collectively generated 231.4 million kWh of electricity. This was accomplished using 40.3 million cubic meters of natural gas, 26.3 thousand tons of coal and 10.7 thousand tons of fuel oil at thermal power plants.
Additionally, 21.6 million kWh of electricity was imported from Turkmenistan.
“Despite these efforts, the electricity supply shortage yesterday amounted to 6.4 million kWh, therefore we had to impose restrictions of up to 400 MW during peak hours across the country,” he commented.
Consumers across the country received a total of 225.6 million kWh of electricity. Gas consumption reached 151.6 million cubic meters, the minister of energy noted.
To mitigate the impact on subscribers, enterprises that have a lesser impact on the economy are the first ones to be disconnected from the network, the ministry’s press service shared with Gazeta.uz. Nonetheless, these restrictions affect up to 50,000 subscribers.
The ministry attributed the decline in electricity production to an incident on power transmission lines in the Bukhara region, which resulted in the suspension of operations at 10 gas pumping units at Gazli and Uchkir stations. This, in turn, led to a decrease in gas pressure in the pipelines, prompting the temporary closure of all gas filling stations. Repairs are expected to be completed in the near future.
In late November, Minister of Energy Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov outlined the plan to address possible shortages of energy resources this winter. The measures include utilizing fuel oil for energy generation, switching large enterprises to night shifts, reducing gas supply to gas stations and more.
