Uzbekugol is developing the region’s giant Angren field. Moreover, the company carries out production through open means in the Apartak section of Angren brown coal field and develops these places through underground gasification.

Coal reserves at the Angren brown coal field (Tashkent region) amount to over 1.9 billion tonnes.

Shargunugol OJSC also produces coal (less than two%). Consortium of the British SAB Energy, Shadella Inc. and M. Metal & Co. Companies is a co-owner of the field (41.75%). Shargunugol has a license to develop Baysun and Sharguncoal fields in the Surkhandar region of Uzbekistan. Its reserves amount to 45.8 million tonnes of coal.

Coal production will be increased by 2.4 times to 8.33 million tonnes in Uzbekistan by 2013. It is planned to use solid fuel at power stations instead of natural gas. Angren and Novo-Angren thermoelectric power stations are currently located right on the natural gas fields. But, natural gas and black oil is used to produce energy. The state program will enable the country to export the reserved natural gas.

The modernization program of coal field costs roughly $254.2 million, a source at the analysis and statistics department of Uzbekugol OJSC said. The program includes increasing the volume of the solid fuel from 5% in 2002 to 15% in 2010 while producing energy in the energy balance of the country.

Regarding increasing efficiency of coal generation, Uzbekistan’s fuel-energy complex can contribute in export of at least 4 or 5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, the source said.

Uzbekistan’s demand for solid fuel makes up about 4 million tonnes per year. Main coal consumers in the country are enterprises of Uzbekenergo. They consume about three million tonnes of the solid fuel.