Central Asia Energy Grid Disintegrating
Central Asia Energy Grid Disintegrating
Few will benefit from Uzbekistan’s decision to leave the Central Asian common electricity grid, say NBCentralAsia experts.
On October 8, the Novosti-Kazakhstan news agency cited Kanat Bozumbayev, head of the Kazak power company KEGOC, as saying Uzbekistan had decided to leave the unified energy system.
“We’ve been notified that as of October, 15, Uzbekistan will leave the parallel system,” said Bozumbayev at the government session.
The Uzbek state company Uzbekenergo refused NBCentralAsia’s request for comments on the country’s decision to leave the regional network. A source in Tashkent said Uzbekistan was likely to press for a system of payments for electricity imports, exports and transit.
The five Central Asian states established a regional electricity grid in the late Eighties when they were still part of the Soviet Union. A total of 83 power stations are linked into the network, which facilitates transfers from state to state, the amounts being determined by contracts between the states involved.
Uzbekistan’s withdrawal from the grid would increase the burden on the other states’ generating capacity, according to NBCentralAsia commentators.
“This will have very grave consequences for Kyrgyzstan,” said Bazarbay Mambetov, a former deputy prime minister of that country. “We cannot store electricity in the grid for ever, and we can’t hold back water [for hydroelectricity generation], we have to let it flow, and we will be forced to discharge electricity.”
To restore its capacity to ensure an even supply, Kyrgyzstan needs to build an additional power station, at a cost of one billion US dollars.
Other NBCentral Asia experts believe Uzbekistan is leaving the common grid because it is launching a new power station at Novoangren fuelled by natural gas. The city of Tashkent will be able to get its power from here, and will no longer need electricity from the Toktogul scheme in Kyrgyzstan. That will break the connection on the high-voltage power line, cutting off two provinces of southern Kazakstan from the Togtogul power station.
Analysts believe Uzbekistan will itself suffer from isolating its power grid from its neighbours. Raimbek Mamyrov, an energy expert in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, says 90 per cent of Uzbekistan’s electricity comes from fuel-burning power stations, which are unable to regulate their supply to match peaks and troughs in demand.
“The advantage of the energy grid was that it made it possible to provide energy for peak times,” said Mamyrov. “Now Tashkent will have to generate enough for peak usage by itself and cover the cost of for transporting energy to the Fergana valley, which has very few energy sources.”
Electricity generating capacity is distributed unevenly among the regional states. Mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan possess close to 80 per cent of the region’s water resources – allowing them to build hydroelectric schemes – whereas Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan have less water but substantial oil and gas deposits. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan try to store up water for the winter when they need it most for electricity production, but their neighbours demand that the same water be released down the rivers in spring and summer so that they can have irrigation in the growing season.
The Uzbeks export their natural gas to Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. They also supply electricity to the Tajiks, as well as providing them with transit for Kyrgyz and Turkmen electricity.
Tashkent is concerned about plans by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to build new hydroelectric stations, fearing that this will aggravate its water shortages.
Regional governments have pursued independent energy policies, using the resources they have to impose terms on their neighbours, leading to tensions and disrupted supplies.
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are heavily dependent on exports of cotton, and often run short of water coming from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan for irrigation. In turn, Tashkent periodically stops supplying gas to these states in autumn and winter because they have not paid their bills, and has also been known to halt the transit of Turkmen electricity via its territory to Tajikistan.
In late September, Uzbekistan suspended gas supplies to the south of Kyrgyzstan and part of the north, saying they would resume once unpaid charges of 19 million dollars were cleared. The Kyrgyz government counters that Tashkent is charging the country way over the odds at 240 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres, compared with rates of 80 and 170 dollars it asks from Kazakstan and Russia, respectively.
Although Viktor Ivonin, an economist in Tashkent, is surprised at the reported Uzbek decision to leave the energy grid, he says his country has been “exploited” by its neighbours and is unhappy with current payment mechanisms.
Farhod Tolipov, a lecturer at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent, says the break-up of the regional power-sharing arrangements will not be good for the region. “Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are not going to benefit,” he said.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
On October 8, the Novosti-Kazakhstan news agency cited Kanat Bozumbayev, head of the Kazak power company KEGOC, as saying Uzbekistan had decided to leave the unified energy system.
“We’ve been notified that as of October, 15, Uzbekistan will leave the parallel system,” said Bozumbayev at the government session.
The Uzbek state company Uzbekenergo refused NBCentralAsia’s request for comments on the country’s decision to leave the regional network. A source in Tashkent said Uzbekistan was likely to press for a system of payments for electricity imports, exports and transit.
The five Central Asian states established a regional electricity grid in the late Eighties when they were still part of the Soviet Union. A total of 83 power stations are linked into the network, which facilitates transfers from state to state, the amounts being determined by contracts between the states involved.
Uzbekistan’s withdrawal from the grid would increase the burden on the other states’ generating capacity, according to NBCentralAsia commentators.
“This will have very grave consequences for Kyrgyzstan,” said Bazarbay Mambetov, a former deputy prime minister of that country. “We cannot store electricity in the grid for ever, and we can’t hold back water [for hydroelectricity generation], we have to let it flow, and we will be forced to discharge electricity.”
To restore its capacity to ensure an even supply, Kyrgyzstan needs to build an additional power station, at a cost of one billion US dollars.
Other NBCentral Asia experts believe Uzbekistan is leaving the common grid because it is launching a new power station at Novoangren fuelled by natural gas. The city of Tashkent will be able to get its power from here, and will no longer need electricity from the Toktogul scheme in Kyrgyzstan. That will break the connection on the high-voltage power line, cutting off two provinces of southern Kazakstan from the Togtogul power station.
Analysts believe Uzbekistan will itself suffer from isolating its power grid from its neighbours. Raimbek Mamyrov, an energy expert in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, says 90 per cent of Uzbekistan’s electricity comes from fuel-burning power stations, which are unable to regulate their supply to match peaks and troughs in demand.
“The advantage of the energy grid was that it made it possible to provide energy for peak times,” said Mamyrov. “Now Tashkent will have to generate enough for peak usage by itself and cover the cost of for transporting energy to the Fergana valley, which has very few energy sources.”
Electricity generating capacity is distributed unevenly among the regional states. Mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan possess close to 80 per cent of the region’s water resources – allowing them to build hydroelectric schemes – whereas Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan have less water but substantial oil and gas deposits. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan try to store up water for the winter when they need it most for electricity production, but their neighbours demand that the same water be released down the rivers in spring and summer so that they can have irrigation in the growing season.
The Uzbeks export their natural gas to Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. They also supply electricity to the Tajiks, as well as providing them with transit for Kyrgyz and Turkmen electricity.
Tashkent is concerned about plans by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to build new hydroelectric stations, fearing that this will aggravate its water shortages.
Regional governments have pursued independent energy policies, using the resources they have to impose terms on their neighbours, leading to tensions and disrupted supplies.
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are heavily dependent on exports of cotton, and often run short of water coming from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan for irrigation. In turn, Tashkent periodically stops supplying gas to these states in autumn and winter because they have not paid their bills, and has also been known to halt the transit of Turkmen electricity via its territory to Tajikistan.
In late September, Uzbekistan suspended gas supplies to the south of Kyrgyzstan and part of the north, saying they would resume once unpaid charges of 19 million dollars were cleared. The Kyrgyz government counters that Tashkent is charging the country way over the odds at 240 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres, compared with rates of 80 and 170 dollars it asks from Kazakstan and Russia, respectively.
Although Viktor Ivonin, an economist in Tashkent, is surprised at the reported Uzbek decision to leave the energy grid, he says his country has been “exploited” by its neighbours and is unhappy with current payment mechanisms.
Farhod Tolipov, a lecturer at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent, says the break-up of the regional power-sharing arrangements will not be good for the region. “Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are not going to benefit,” he said.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
