Alternative Energy Resources of Uzbekistan and Possibilities of Their Effective Use

: This article provides information on the need to use alternative energy sources, which are environmentally friendly natural energy resources. The results of the study on the potential of alternative energy resources of Uzbekistan, the possibilities of their effective use and the large-scale reforms carried out in this regard are also presented.

wind, geothermal waters, geysers, waves, rising and falling water levels, volcanoes, lightning, all kinds of currents in the oceans and seas, biomass, hydrogen fuel, urban waste, photosynthesis; photoelectric modifiers, chemical (galvanic) elements, among others. These types of energy are called non-traditional and renewable energy sources (Majidov, 2014).
The use of water energy, one of the renewable energy sources, for the first time in our country began in 1926, when the Bozsuv Hydroelectric Power Station was built (National, 2001). In 1987, a solar furnace was put into operation in Tashkent, collecting heat over 3000°C (www.alternativenergy.ru, 2022). In December 2014, one of the first 130 kWh solar photovoltaic power plants in our country was built and put into operation in the Pap district of Namangan region (www.kun.uz, 2017). The theory and methods of using wind energy were developed in the 1950s, and the first wind energy devices in the Republic were used by breeders of the Tomdi district of Navoi region in 1983 (Imomov, 2013).
Over the past 5 years, our government has carried out huge reforms on the efficient use of renewable energy sources and broad attraction of investments in this area. In this regard, the decisions and decrees announced by our President are a serious impetus for the development of the industry. In particular, the PD- decision. According to it, in the structure of energy production facilities in our country, it is planned to increase the share of energy production facilities generated by renewable energy sources by 19.7% by 2025. Of this, it is established that 15.8 percent corresponds to hydropower, 2.3 percent to solar energy, and 1.6 percent to wind power. To achieve this goal, implementation of large investment projects for the development of renewable energy is planned. Among these, the construction of solar photovoltaic power plants with a capacity of 100 MW each in Samarkand, Navoi and Surkhandarya regions, a wind power plant with a capacity of 102 MW in Navoi region, as well as construction projects for 18 new hydroelectric power plants in various parts of the republic from 2017 to 2025.

II. The main part
Uzbekistan is rich in renewable energy resources, which is estimated at about 51.0 which is equivalent to billion tons of oil (Toshpo'latov et. al., 2020). Of these, the most important include solar, wind and hydropower resources. Uzbekistan has great differences in the potential of this type of renewable energy sources (Table 1).  (Table 1) on the technical potential of renewable energy resources in Uzbekistan (a part of the gross potential that can be exploited based on existing technologies), the potential of solar energy is about 98.8 %, while hydropower resources make up 1.0%, and wind energy makes up 0.2% (Fig. 1).
For information, it is worth saying that Uzbekistan is one of the countries with a sufficiently high technical potential for renewable energy. In particular, the potential of Uzbekistan to generate electricity from solar energy can reach 525-760 billion kWh per year, and the potential to generate electricity from wind energy can exceed 1 billion kWh (Avezova et. al., 2022). -300 days are considered sunny days; --2980 ÷ 3130 hours, the average temperature is +42°C, the length of the day is 14-16 hours; -the temperature rises to +50°C in the desert regions; -up to 1900-2000 kW of solar radiation can be generated in each m 2 area in 1 year (Majidov, 2014).
According to the specialists of "Uzbekenergo" SJSC, the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan has a huge potential for solar energy. It was found that 99% of all renewable energy sources in the country were solar energy, equivalent to 50 billion tons of oil (Majidov, 2014). According to the latest data, Uzbekistan has the opportunity to generate a total of 600 billion kWh of electricity by building solar plants. This is 8 times higher than the total need of the Republic for energy today (www.gazeta.uz, 2017).
solar energy compared to other regions. This can be seen on the map of the solar energy potential of Uzbekistan below (Fig. 2).
Since the southern regions of Uzbekistan are rich in solar energy ( fig.4), the construction of solar photovoltaic plants is being built in these regions. For example, a modern solar photovoltaic plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts was launched in Karmana District of Navoi region. 252 million kilowatt-hours of electricity are generated here per year. At the expense of this, 80 million cubic meters of natural gas are saved, and 160 thousand tons of evaporative gases are prevented from escaping into the atmosphere (www.gazeta.uz, 2017). Also, on May 24 of this year, a modern solar photovoltaic installation with a capacity of 100 megawatts was put into operation in the Nurabad district of the Samarkand region. It is reported that this power plant generates 260 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and supplies electricity to more than 80 thousand households. Also, as a result of the operation of the station, 78 million cubic meters of natural gas per year will be saved, and 100,000 tons of harmful waste will be prevented from being released into the atmosphere (www.daryo.uz, 2022). In addition to this, from May 24, 2022, a large solar photoelectric plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts, built in the Nurabad district of Samarkand region, began transmitting power to the unified electricity grid of Uzbekistan. According to the press service of the Ministry of Energy, this power plant produces 260 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and supplies more than 80,000 households with electricity. Also, as a result of the operation of the station, 78 million cubic meters of natural gas will be saved per year, and 100,000 tons of harmful waste will be prevented from being released into the atmosphere (www.daryo.uz, 2022). As can be seen from the information provided, Uzbekistan is a country rich in solar energy, and efforts are being made to use this energy efficiently. Solar energy is rich not only in the southern regions of Uzbekistan, but also in all its corners. For example, an analysis of data from the last 5 years (2016-2021) of the Namangan weather station located in Namangan region shows that the territory of Namangan region is sunny, that is, rich in solar energy ( Table 2).
The annual theoretical reserve of winds is 100 times more than all energy reserves on Earth and is 3300xl0 12 kWh. But only 10-12% of this energy can be used. For example, in 1987, 10x10 1 kWh of energy was produced by all wind installations on Earth, that is, only 0.3% of the annual reserve was used (Majidov, 2014).
Today, the maps of winds of Uzbekistan is compiled, according to which the gross capacity of wind energy is estimated at 2.2 million (the equivalent of a million tons of oil), and its technical capacity is 0.427 million (the equivalent of a million tons of oil) (Safarov et. al., 2022). 75% of the country's territory is unsuitable for use to generate energy using wind power. Because, economically, it is advisable to use wind generators if the wind speed in the place is not less than 5 m/s. On a large territory of our country, wind power cannot reach such speeds. We can see this through the table below (Table 3). Table 3: average monthly wind speed (m/s) in some regions of Uzbekistan (Safarov et. al., 2022).

Regions
Jan As can be seen from the data of Table 3, the monthly average wind speed in Nukus, Urgench, Bukhara and Navoi regions is slightly higher than in other regions. The rest of the territories, on the other hand, are characterized by having much less capacity in this regard.
It is possible to more accurately describe the capabilities of the regions in this regard through the wind speed map of Uzbekistan below (Fig. 3).
As you can see from the map information, the mountainous regions of Uzbekistan (Tashkent, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya, Jizzakh regions) are slightly better provided by wind speed. Therefore, the first wind power plant in Uzbekistan was built in the mountainous area of the Tashkent region.
In  Hydropower resources. Uzbekistan is a country rich in hydropower resources. The very fact of saying that the hydropower resources that can be used in our republic in this regard are equal to the volume of electricity production of 27.4 billion kilowatt hours a year suggests that we have a huge resource in this regard.
At the same time, now only 6.5 billion kilowatt hours or 23.7% of the hydropower potential of our country is being used (www.kun.uz, 2017).
Theoretically, the total hydropower potential of Uzbekistan for one year is as follows: 1. Annual total (or theoretical) hydropower potential -88.5 billion kWh, of which: -large rivers-81.1 billion kWh; -average rivers-3.0 billion kWh; -small rivers-4.4 billion kWh.
2. The flow of water that generates energy faces a lot of resistance on its way and is wasted. The energy left over from wasted energy is a technical hydropower potential, equivalent to 27.4 billion kWh, of which: -large rivers-24.6 billion kWh; -average rivers-1.5 billion kWh; -small rivers-2.3 billion kWh.
3. The flow of water, passing through the equipment of the Hydro Power Plant, overcomes a lot of resistance. The net cost-effective hydropower potential remaining after all resistance is 16.6 billion kWh (of which 6.5 billion kilowatt/hour has been acquired) (Toshpo'latov et. al., 2020).
Data on the hydropower resources of the main rivers flowing through the territory of Uzbekistan are presented in Table 4. Table 4. Main rivers and hydropower resources in Uzbekistan (Badalov et. al., 2009 As can be seen from the data of Table 4 Since hydropower resources are natural, environmentally friendly and renewable energy sources, the full expansion of their use corresponds to the modern development strategy of our Republic. This ensures guaranteed coverage of the growing electricity demand of industrial and municipal enterprises, agriculture and regions, rational use and conservation of organic fuel reserves in our country, as well as reduction of harmful waste emissions into the environment.

III. Conclusion
In conclusion, the Republic of Uzbekistan is considered to be very rich in the main types of alternative energy -solar, hydro and wind resources. The above proofs are a prime example of this. A very large part of these resources has not yet been used, and in recent years the first serious steps have been taken to effectively use existing capacities, large-scale events have been implemented, major projects are being implemented. The unstoppable continuation of efforts in this direction, as well as the further development of reforms, will make it possible to achieve sustainable economic development and environmental well-being. Additionally: -The main advantage of renewable energy sources is that they are inexhaustible and environmentally friendly, their use does not change the energy balance of the planet. Renewable energy sources play a significant role in solving three global problems facing humanity: energy, ecology, trade; -The alternative energy sources play an important role in saving primary hydrocarbon resources (oil, gas, coal, etc.), ensure the energy security of the country; Thus, the possibilities of reducing the anthropogenic impact on the environment will be expanded due to the broad involvement of environmentally friendly, renewable energy sources in the energy balance. This makes it possible to save hydrocarbon resources not for the production of electricity, but for use as raw materials in the petrochemical industry. It serves as a convenient and reliable source of energy in residential areas remote from central power supply.