Uzbekistan will invest $889 million in hydropower plants between 2016 and 2020, according to a recent plan accepted by the ministerial cabinet.
The plan includes restoration works on 15 older hydroelectric power plants as well as the construction of nine new ones in the country.
By realizing these investments, the country aims to raise its electricity generation by 5.25 billion kilowatt-hours.
Uzbekistan generates 40 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year with 45 hydro plants in the country. The majority of the electricity is consumed domestically while some is exported to neighboring Afghanistan.
The government expects about $411 million to come from foreign investors while $478 million is to come from domestic sources.
In 2014, natural gas represented the majority of energy consumption in the country at 85 percent.
Consumption of petroleum products was six percent followed by coal with four percent and hydroelectricity with five percent, according to BP's 2015 Statistical Review.
Reporting by Bahtiyar Abdukerimov from Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Writing by Zeynep Beyza Kilic
Anadolu Agency
zeynep.karabay@aa.com.tr