QAZAQ GREEN. Uzbekistan could begin exporting surplus electricity to Europe as early as 2030 if a joint project involving Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan to lay a deep-sea cable across the Caspian Sea is successfully completed.

This possibility was highlighted by Zhurabek Mirzamakhmudov, Uzbekistan's Minister of Energy, during the first meeting of Central Asia's Energy Ministers in Astana, as reported by Xabar.

"By the end of this year, we will increase our renewable energy capacity to over 4 GW. By 2030, this figure will surpass 20 GW, with 2 to 5 GW earmarked for export to Europe," said Mirzamakhmudov.

He noted that the exact volume of electricity exports would depend on the capacity of the power transmission system and the demand from European buyers.

The minister explained that electricity from Uzbekistan would be transmitted through Kazakhstan via the Unified Energy System of Central Asia, then across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan via a deep-sea cable, onward to Georgia, and finally through a cable across the Black Sea to Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria.

As part of Uzbekistan's development strategy, the country's total generation capacity is expected to increase by 2.4 times by 2030, reaching 44.9 GW. At the same time, the share of renewable energy in the energy mix will rise to 40%, with new solar and wind projects contributing a total of 18.8 GW (8.6 GW from solar and 10.2 GW from wind).