Stanislav Ivanov, Leading Researcher of IMEMO RAS, Candidate of Historical Sciences

The coronavirus pandemic, the West’s trade and sanctions wars with China, Russia, Iran, and other countries have a negative impact on the global economy and the standard of living of the population of our planet, but they are unable to stop scientific and technological progress. Even in these conditions, the SCO countries are trying to keep up with their Western competitors in the development of “green energy” and reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere.

On April 8, 2022, the 6th Meeting of Heads of Ministries and departments of Science and Technology of the SCO member states was held in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The representative of Pakistan proposed to combine the efforts of the SCO member states on the transition to alternative energy, his initiative was supported by the delegations of China, Uzbekistan, and other countries in order to intensify work in the field of energy and environmental security of the region.

Of course, India, China and Russia are the leading countries in the development of “green energy” within the SCO, with their huge capabilities and potentials in the scientific, technical, industrial, financial and economic spheres.

Thus, India intends to increase its energy production capacity from renewable sources by five times: from the currently available 100 GW to 500 GW by 2030. The green energy sector in the country is developing due to breakthrough innovative technologies that reduce the cost of obtaining so-called “clean” energy. While a number of states are only making similar commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement of December 2015, India has become one of the few countries in the world that has not only achieved the goals set for the period from 2020 to 2022, but also significantly exceeded them. This makes it possible for India to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, gradually displacing and replacing “dirty” fossil fuels in the energy sector.

Special attention in India is paid to obtaining decentralized renewable energy. Embodying this innovative idea, the state of Bihar announced the commissioning of the first floating power plant, which should simultaneously solve two tasks: firstly, to produce environmentally friendly energy from solar panels, and secondly, to promote fish farming.

In addition, an online portal of “green” vacancies has recently been opened, connecting enterprises with professionals looking for work in the renewable energy sector. The potential of the industry is 3.4 million jobs, 238 GW of solar and 101 GW of wind installed capacity by 2030.

China, with its powerful economy, is considered the leader in greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, which are the main cause of global warming. To reduce the level of environmental damage, the country has pledged to increase the capacity of solar and wind power plants to 1,200 gigawatts by 2030. These goals are planned to be achieved mainly by installing solar panels and wind turbines on currently unused terrain. Chinese manufacturers have established themselves as major global manufacturers of solar panels, occupies a leading position in the global market in the production of solar panels and wind turbines.

China intends to increase the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in electricity generation to 33% by 2025, compared with 28% in 2020. By 2025, the total consumption of “green energy” in China will reach about one billion tons of coal equivalent. Renewable energy sources will account for half of the total increase in energy consumption in 2021-2025, but Beijing reserves the right to build nuclear power plants and traditional power plants powered by fossil fuels within the framework of energy security.

In terms of investments in green energy, Russia is not standing still either, which has embarked on a phased development of renewable energy in order to achieve production of 4.5% of total energy generation by 2024 (excluding hydroelectric power plants above 25 megawatts). It should be noted that by 2020, 40.4% of the electricity generated in Russia came from nuclear and hydropower (including large hydroelectric power plants). Thermal power plants provided only 53% of energy production. The share of renewable energy sources, which include wind farms and solar plants, in total electricity production is still only 0.3%, or 3.36 billion kilowatt-hours. However, the Russian government has approved a plan to support renewable energy from 2025 to 2035, providing for investments in the construction of “green” stations over 360 billion rubles. By 2035, “green” power plants with a total capacity of up to 12 gigawatts (based on wind, solar and small hydroelectric power plants) can be built in Russia, which will amount to 4.8% of the current capacity of the entire generation of the country.

The huge potential of the Central Asian countries in the field of “green” energy is also beginning to attract potential investors from other countries. Thanks to its scientific and technical developments and the availability of finance, China, being the closest neighbor of the Central Asian countries, may well take advantage of this advantage. Having vast free territories, solar and wind resources, which are currently practically not used, the Central Asian countries can reduce the number of failures in the operation of the region’s energy systems, reduce the level of energy dependence and greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere through the development of “green energy”.

Thus, Uzbekistan intends to increase the share of renewable energy sources, including hydropower, from the total electricity production to 25% by 2030, creating additional power generation capacities, including 5 GW of solar energy, 1.9 GW of hydropower and 3 GW of wind energy.

Kazakhstan aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources to 10% by 2030 and to 50% by 2050. China has agreed to jointly finance the construction of a 100 MW wind farm in southern Kazakhstan with European partners. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) noted that the Zhanatas Wind Power Plant is “the first renewable energy project” for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in the region.

The presence of rich hydrocarbon deposits in the Central Asian countries and the power grids in need of modernization objectively hinder the development of “green energy” in the region, but the governments of these countries take into account general global trends and make efforts to follow in their wake.