Planned Aluminium Plant Could Pose Environmental Risks

The Kyrgyz authorities are looking into creating an aluminium industry, but NBCentralAsia observers say the producing the vast amounts of cheap electricity needed to power it could come at a cost to the environment. The underlying economics of making it viable are also questionable, they say.



On June 15, a proposal to build an aluminium plant with an annual production capacity of 500,000 tons and associated power stations was presented to the Kyrgyz government. The 3.2 billion US dollar project has been developed by Russia’s Rinko Holding group and the Kyrgyz ministry of industry, energy and fuel resources.



The plans provide for a bauxite plant, the aluminium production plant and a power station. These would probably be located in Tashkumyr and Khaidarkan in southern Kyrgyzstan and in Karakeche and Karabalta in the north of the country. There is an abundance of coal in Tashkumyr and Karakeche, while there are already mercury and uranium plants at Khaidarkan and Karabalta.



NBCentralAsia observers say the project, rivalling Tajikistan’s aluminium plant which has a capacity of 517,000 tons of aluminium a year, is an attractive prospect for the Kyrgyz government, keen to develop heavy industry.



According to economist Jumakadyr Akeneev, the various units could create up to 40,000 jobs, and produce aluminium worth two billion dollars a year.



“Given the anticipated construction of electricity lines and roads, this project could bring in more economic profit than Kambarata 1 and 2,” said Akeneev. The project to build the two Kambarata hydroelectric stations, which will also require a multibillion dollar investment, is one of the most promising ventures in Kyrgyzstan.



The director of the Bishkek Centre for Economic Analysis, Sapar Orozbakov, says that when the Kambarata stations are finished, they too will be able to supply electricity to the energy-intensive aluminium plant, making it more feasible.



But according to World Bank estimates, Kambarata electricity will end up costing about eight cents per kilowatt/hour, a price Orozbakov warns could be too steep for the aluminium plant.



For comparison, Tajikistan is also in the process of building large hydroelectric stations because its aluminium plant consumes a third of all the country’s power, but there the estimated cost of generating one kilowatt/hour is no more than two cents.



However, economic observer Jyldyz Sarybaeva says that aluminium production does not necessarily need to be run on hydroelectricity, and she suggests instead that a 1,200 megawatt coal-fired power station could be built at the Karakeche open-cast mine.



Coal stations give off harmful carbon dioxide emissions and this may have prompted President Kurmanbek Bakiev to instruct to the minister of industry, energy and fuel to look into the environmental impact of the aluminium plant.



Ecologists are already worried about the environmental risks and the effect it might have of the country’s embryonic tourism industry.



“We shouldn’t implement projects like this if we want to develop tourism and protect nature and clean water supplies,” said Berdibek Jumabaev, head of the Chabyt environmental organisation.



Former member of parliament Begish Aamatov fears that the aluminium project might not be subjected to high environmental safety standards because of “corruption within the political system”.



“Kyrgyzstan is attractive only because of its pristine environment. If we lose that, we won’t be able to develop the tourist industry we plan to capitalise on,” he said.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)