Tashkent hosted a workshop focusing on the issues of introduction of international standard for energy management at Uzbekistan’s industrial enterprises. It was jointly organized by the World Bank and the Ministry of Economy. The event was attended by over 50 participants representing ministries and state agencies, large industrial enterprises, state companies from power, oil and gas, automotive, chemical, construction materials production, railway, cotton and light industries, as well as research and academic institutes.
The industrial sector is the second largest energy end user, after the residential sector, and accounts for about 25% of total final energy consumption in Uzbekistan. The large presence of energy-intensive industries, obsolete production processes, inefficient equipment, and a general lack of systematic monitoring and control of energy use in industrial facilities have a major contributing factor to the high energy-intensity of the domestic economy.
Using energy efficiently helps organizations save money as well as helping to conserve resources and tackle climate change. ISO 50001 supports organizations in all sectors to use energy more efficiently, through the implementation of an energy management system (EnMS). EnMS was formally endorsed by the government in May 2015 through the Presidential Decree No. PP-2343. Since then 24 enterprises have been certified in accordance with ISO 50001.
In Uzbekistan, the World Bank currently supports implementation of 16 projects, which are worth of around US$2 billion. Those projects cover such priority areas as agriculture and water resources management, energy, transport, healthcare, education, urban development, water supply and sanitation.
