KOTRA "Attention Needed on Central Asia Renewable Energy Market"

Analysis of Central Asia's Renewable Energy Transition Environment and Strategy... Cooperation Measures Also Presented

[Provided by KOTRA]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Yeju] There is a call to pay attention to the renewable energy market in Central Asia and explore cooperation measures.

KOTRA published a report titled "Current Status of the Central Asian Renewable Energy Market and Cooperation Measures" on the 4th, analyzing the renewable energy transition environment and strategies of Central Asian countries in the era of energy transition and presenting cooperation measures with Korea.

According to KOTRA, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, representative resource-rich countries in Central Asia, have continued energy production through oil and natural gas extraction for decades but have recently begun to actively develop renewable energy. They are promoting renewable energy development from various perspectives, with both factors that promote and hinder this development simultaneously at play.

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have abundant fossil energy resources such as oil, natural gas, and coal, and energy production centered on these has been entrenched for decades. Therefore, the energy transition centered on renewable energy faces obstacles such as ▲lack of economic feasibility ▲absence of technology and skilled personnel ▲passive participation of traditional energy public enterprises in the transition process, which may hinder development in this field.

The Uzbek government has recently been actively pursuing renewable energy development. As of 2019, renewable energy production capacity was only 1.8GW from hydropower, but it plans to secure capacities of 3.8GW hydropower, 3GW wind power, and 5GW solar power by 2030. In the case of wind power, the average wind speed in the Karakalpakstan region exceeds 8 m/s, enabling high-efficiency power generation, and for solar power, regions such as Bukhara and Samarkand have been measured to have high efficiency, indicating overall development potential higher than other countries.

Kazakhstan has been introducing related regulations and promoting development of each energy source since the late 2000s, ahead of Uzbekistan. Hydropower modernization is underway for aging plants built during the Soviet era, wind power development is focused on promising areas such as Atyrau and Mangystau, and solar power is actively cooperating with Chinese and Russian companies. However, participation of state-owned energy companies like KazMunaiGas is very limited during this development process, which could become an obstacle to future development in the renewable energy sector.

In Central Asia's energy transition, not only China and Russia but also major companies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia are expanding their participation, closely monitoring future market changes. Korean companies also need to consider industrial cooperation and market entry into the growing Central Asian renewable energy market. To this end, ▲differentiated strategies according to each country's development stage ▲cooperation in renewable energy technology development and manufacturing ▲strengthening cooperation with energy public enterprises and local governments can be helpful.

Kim Taeho, Head of KOTRA's Economic and Trade Cooperation Division, said, "Renewable energy development in Central Asia is now in its infancy and has very high growth potential in the future. Now is the right time for our companies to establish cooperation strategies according to market changes," adding, "The Central Asian renewable energy sector can serve as an important axis in future economic cooperation between Korea and Central Asia."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.