Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 10 June, a video conference meeting was held under the chairmanship of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on measures to increase the efficiency of use of energy resources and ensure the sustainable operation of energy facilities in the sector in the autumn-winter period.

Development and ensuring stable functioning of the energy industry, development of new energy sources and increase in generating capacity are priority areas of state policy. At the same time, it is impossible to achieve high results in the system without rational use of energy resources and ensuring energy efficiency in industries and regions, both in the social and economic spheres.

At the meeting, special attention was paid to these issues.

Last year, regional programs to save electricity and gas were adopted. Thanks to solar collectors installed in homes and social facilities, 20 million kilowatts of electricity were saved. Industrial enterprises are also introducing green energy technologies.

However, as noted, in some regions, work is progressing slowly and energy saving targets are not being fully met.

It was emphasized that it is necessary to introduce strict energy efficiency requirements when designing new social facilities, to develop technical specifications for energy efficiency for administrative buildings, apartment buildings, enterprises, retail and service buildings.

It was instructed to prepare 1 thousand social facilities for the autumn-winter season. In particular, 251 hospitals, 292 kindergartens, 393 schools and boarding schools will be renovated.

The President noted that the plans of industry leaders and khokims to save electricity and gas are insufficient; they must set higher goals.

Each khokim is instructed to select one district and make it exemplary in terms of saving electricity and gas. It was emphasized that in these areas this year it is important to save 750 million kilowatts of electricity and 550 million cubic meters of gas.

“Savings should be achieved by reducing losses and introducing energy-saving technologies,” said the head of our state.

At the meeting, it was decided to introduce a new system for assessing energy efficiency in industries and areas based on best practices.

Thus, large consumers who consume at least 4 million kilowatts of electricity or 375 thousand cubic meters of gas per year will undergo an energy audit every three years. The Energy Inspectorate will annually publish a list of large consumers, and those enterprises that have not passed the audit will be supplied with gas and electricity at increased tariffs.

Responsible persons have been instructed to develop technical regulations and regulatory documents related to the new system by the end of the year.

The number of electric vehicles in our country has increased 10 times over the past three years and reached 35 thousand. The production of electric vehicles is being established in Jizzakh.

In this regard, it was noted that when developing the electric power system, it is necessary to take into account new charging capacities.

A night tariff will be introduced to encourage charging of electric vehicles at home. Residents who install metered chargers will be given a reduced rate for charging at night.

It will also be possible to install charging stations with a capacity of up to 22 kilowatts on the streets and around apartment buildings and up to 7 kilowatts in houses. Charging stations will be installed in parking lots of government agencies, shopping centers, hotels and resorts.

About 39 thousand apartment buildings in our republic are serviced by 819 management companies. Thanks to tax breaks, preferential loans and the “freezing” of old debts, they are gradually getting back on their feet. For example, if a year ago 133 management companies were in the “heavy” category, now there are no such companies. As a result, since the beginning of the year, 2.1 thousand apartment buildings have been renovated, about a million trees and flowers have been planted.

At the meeting it was noted that not everywhere people are satisfied with the quality of house management. Many management companies limit themselves only to street cleaning, minor repairs and cleaning, but the main tasks, such as landscaping the area around houses, maintaining roofs, internal communications and irrigation networks in good condition, remain unattended.

Recently, a minimum tariff for the services of management companies was established. Now the quality of management and operation must correspond to this level.

It is indicated that management companies should become a “bridge” between residents and public services. From now on, if problems arise in houses that are less than two years old, that is, within the warranty period, the management companies, together with the contractor, will be responsible for eliminating them.

It was noted that there are cases of illegal changes being made to the seismic structures of apartment buildings; there are complaints from the population about subsidence, cracks, the appearance of efflorescence and the quality of new apartment buildings.

Competent organizations are instructed to establish strict control over contractors’ fulfillment of their obligations regarding the safety of homes and the quality of infrastructure, as well as to introduce a system for early detection of illegal changes to the structure.

Previously, based on a study of the real state of preparation for the autumn-winter season in each mahalla, a training program was developed by district.

It was decided to allocate 14 trillion soums for its implementation in addition to the 14 trillion soums allocated last year.

Since the beginning of the year, 250 emergency outages have occurred in the regions, resulting in unstable electricity supply to consumers in some places. In addition, the electrical panels and wires in some apartment buildings have expired.

The responsible departments have been instructed to completely eliminate these shortcomings. The task has been set to start work with the most difficult mahallas and improve 30 thousand kilometers of networks and 10 thousand transformers by the end of the year.

The meeting also discussed issues of strengthening the energy resource base.

This year, using all generation sources, it is planned to launch power plants with a capacity of 4 gigawatts. In addition, a major overhaul of 850 kilometers of main networks and 9 substations is planned, as well as the construction of 595 kilometers of electrical networks and 4 new substations.

The need to increase coal production this year was pointed out to ensure stable operation of thermal power plants and meet the needs of the population and the social sphere. In addition, fuel oil and coal will be exempt from customs duties for two years, and revolving loans will be provided for coal imports for a period of three years.

In October-December, 163 thousand tons of liquefied gas will be supplied to consumers. In addition, regional khokims were instructed to create reserves of coal, liquefied gas and basic foodstuffs for more than 300 remote mahallas.

To provide the population with heat and drinking water in the autumn-winter season, tasks have been set to improve the operation of boiler houses, boilers and heating networks, and repair water supply networks and pumps.

During the meeting, reports from industry and regional leaders were heard.