The International Energy Agency’s Uzbekistan energy profile, published on 15 April 2020, has a geothermal subsection in its chapter on sustainable development.
It puts Uzbekistan’s gross geothermal potential at 67,000 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe), more than solar, but the technical potential at only 0.3 Mtoe.
Geothermal resources are found in almost all regions, and long-term research has revealed eight large hydrothermal resource pools, the profile says. It puts the gross potential of geothermal water at 244,200 tonnes of coal equivalent (tce), with the technical potential not determined, and cites the largest potential in Bukhara region (81,200 tce) and Namangan in the Fergana Valley (42,600 tce).
Geothermal water averages 45.5 °C, with the warmest groundwater in Bukhara (56 °C) and Syrdarya (50 °C) regions, while rock at 4,000–6,000 m depth is put at 70–300 °C.
The profile says thermal water use is still at an early stage and that the country has no geothermal generating capacity.
Why it matters
The same headline figures reappear in later assessments, including the IEA’s 2022 solar roadmap for Uzbekistan and a 2023 national decarbonisation roadmap.
