Prospects of renewable energy penetration in Uzbekistan—Perception of the Khorezmian people

The energy sectors of fossil fuel-rich Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are heavily dependent on non-renewable resources. The abundance of these resources acts as an obstacle in the process of energy sector diversification in the Central Asian states. The future diversification of energy sources is, however, an inevitable process for many reasons: man-made climate change, the need for transition to reliable and secure energy sources and availability of a vast potential for renewable energy generation being the most important.The current article investigates the decision-makers′ perception on introduction of renewable energy sources in the residential sector of Uzbekistan using a survey-based analysis. The findings indicate that the possibility of becoming independent from the centrally supplied natural gas and electricity grid and availability of state funded financing are the three main drivers of renewable energy penetration while the higher price of energy from the renewable energy sources acts as a major disincentive. It is also revealed that the residents of urban type multi-storey houses have relatively very small opportunities for renewable energy application due to the smaller surface of their rooftops and also due to lack of sufficient surface in the neighborhood.