Tag Archives: electricity

Pakistan anticipates power supply from Kyrgyzstan

OCT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pakistani media hinted that it was anticipating potential supply-side problems with CASA-1000 electricity project by saying that it had invited Russia to make up any short- fall over winter when Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’s hydropower stations are less productive. The World Bank-backed $1.2b project aims to send electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan by 2019. This year, shortages in Kyrgyzstan have cast doubts over the country’s export capacity and Pakistan has explored other suppliers, including Turkmenistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Uzbek President urges modernisation of power station

SEPT. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – During a visit to the Karakalpakstan region in west Uzbekistan, acting President and PM Shavkat Mirziyoyev urged the local administration to speed up the modernisation of the region’s biggest thermal power station, Takhiatash. The upgrade scheme is being part funded by a $300m loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and will boost overall production to 930MW from the current 730MW.

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(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Uzbek FM pays visit to Tajik capital

SEPT. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Abdulaziz Kamilov, Uzbekistan’s foreign minister, paid an official visit to Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon in Dushanbe in an effort to boost cooperation. Mr Kamilov and Mr Rakhmon held talks on joint efforts to combat terrorism and on water and energy issues that still divide the two countries. Uzbekistan has maintained strong opposition against Tajikistan’s decision to build a major dam and hydropower plant because it would affect downstream water supply.

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(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)

Kyrgyzstan’s reservoir water level increases

SEPT. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Water levels at Toktogul, a key reservoir in Kyrgyzstan, have increased to a four year-high, prompting the government to reassure people about winter electricity supplies. Tagzhana Aidaraliyeva, a spokesperson for the company managing Toktogul said water levels have reached 17.4b cubic metres in mid-September. In 2014, water levels had fallen to 11.9b cubic metres, forcing Kyrgyzstan to increase electricity imports and ration its distribution.

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(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)

Armenia to replace Mestamor

SEPT. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia will decide within the next two years what to replace the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant with when they decommission it in 2026, media reported quoting government officials. Metsamor, which lies 30km from Yerevan is controversial. It supplies 40% of Armenia’s power but the EU and the US want it closed down because they say it is a safety risk.

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(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)

Tajik power plant to use Siemens-branded equipment

SEPT. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Rogun dam and power station, under construction in Tajikistan, will use Siemens-branded switch- gears, the German edition of Focus reported. In July, Italy’s Salini Impregilo won a $3.9b contract to build the Rogun dam, which will become the tallest dam in the world, at 355m.

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(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)

Pakistan wants Turkmenistan more involved in CASA-1000

SEPT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Pakistan said it wanted Turkmenistan to be more involved in the CASA-1000 electricity transmission project and drop plans to build an alternative electricity supply route. CASA-1000 is a World Bank-backed $1.2b plan to bring electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Turkmenistan has pledged to either join the project or supply electricity to Pakistan via alternative routes.

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(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Samsung cancels Kazakh power plant deal

ALMATY, SEPT. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — South Korea’s Samsung pulled out of a $2.5b deal with Kazakhstan to build a coal-fired power plant on the shores of Lake Balkhash in the south of the country because of the low oil prices.

A collapse in oil prices since 2014 has hit Kazakhstan’s finances hard, forcing the government to cancel projects. Although there has been no response from the Kazakh government, the inference from Samsung’s statement is that it was worried that Kazakhstan would not be able to buy as much electricity as they had agreed.

“Samsung C&T exercised the put option regarding all of its Balkhash thermal power plant shares, 50% plus one share,” the company said in a statement. “[This] is a demand for Samruk Energy to acquire all the shares within 60 days from the date of notice for $192.5m.”

Samsung stopped construction work on the power plant 12 months ago after a disagreement with the Kazakh government over the agreed price it would pay for buying electricity from the plant, the first indicator that the deal may be running into serious trouble.

For Kazakhstan, Samsung’s decision to cancel the contract is a blow for two reasons — it is damaging for Kazakhstan’s reputation as a place to do business and also places further pressure on its current Soviet-era energy production system. Demand for electricity has been booming because of rising population and living standards. The Balkhash power plant had been considered essential for maintaining Kazakhstan’s power production.

In January, another South Korean company, LG Chem, dropped its plans to build a $4.2b petrochemical complex in Kazakhstan due to sustained low oil prices.

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(News report from Issue No. 294, published on Sept. 2 2016)

Tajikistan turns down Kyrgyz request for extra power

DUSHANBE, JULY 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s minister of energy, Usmonali Usmonzoda, said he had turned down a request from Kyrgyzstan for extra electricity because the Tajik power generating system did not have any spare capacity.

The inability of Tajikistan to send power to Kyrgyzstan shows just how interdependent countries in Central Asia are. It also comes at a time when extra scrutiny is being placed on the power generation systems in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as they build up to powering the World Bank-backed $1.2b CASA-1000 power system to Pakistan.

At a press conference in Dushanbe, Mr Usmonzoda said that, due to rising industrial activity, Tajikistan does not have spare capacity.

“Kyrgyzstan asked for 2.5b kWh of electricity at 2.5 cents/kWh,” he told reporters. “This is a large volume and, because of the emergence of new domestic energy consumers, we decided to refrain from the supply.”

Last year, Tajikistan signed a short term supply agreement with Kyrgyzstan to export 146m kWh over the winter for 2.5 cent/kWh.

Now, though, Tajikistan may be looking for a better price.

Independent Bishkek-based energy expert Rasul Umbetaliyev told the KyrTAG news agency: “The minister diplomatically avoided answering directly, but the price for electricity exports from Tajikistan is currently 3.5 – 7 cents/kWh.”

Tajikistan is investing heavily in its power generating systems. It has approved a $3.9b project to build the Rogun hydropower system.

But with its economy stalling and industrial production lying stagnant rather than rising, production problems and not excessive demand could be holding back Tajikistan’s power exports.

Its electricity distributor, Barqi Tojik, has piled up $1.5b in debt. It hasn’t paid for the electricity it bought from power stations and it is still waiting to be paid by its largest customers.

The government is planning to split Barqi Tojik and bail it out.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Azerbaijan to link energy system with Russia

JULY 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s energy minister Natig Aliyev said that his country is ready to link its energy system with Russia and Iran and create a north-south energy corridor. Once complete, the corridor would allow Iran to import around 700 megawatt of electricity per year. Iran currently imports electricity from Armenia. At the end of June, Iran and Azerbaijan completed a cross-border power transmission line.

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(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)