Tag Archives: electricity

UK company to build a hydropower plant in Georgia

APRIL 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – UK-based investment company Geopower signed an agreement with Georgia’s energy ministry to build a new hydropower plant on the Mtkvari river. The new plant, located near Dzegvi, a village 20km north of Tbilisi, will cost $24m and will have a capacity of 15.7MW. Small hydropower stations are spreading across the South Caucasus to meet the region’s energy needs.

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(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Armenia brings forward nuclear power repairs

APRIL 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenian government said it would bring forward repair works at the Metsamor nuclear power plant in 2017 after it agreed with Georgia to increase electricity imports. Areg Galstayan, deputy energy minister, said repairs, previously scheduled for November 2017 will be carried out six months earlier, in May. By bringing the repairs forward by six months, Armenia is showing it is confident that Georgia can supplement its power supply.

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(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Inter RAO wants to sell its hydropower in Georgia

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian state-owned power distributor Inter RAO said it is considering selling its power stations in Georgia, should an appropriate offer emerge. Last week, RIA Novosti reported that Inter RAO was looking to sell its Mtkvari thermal power plant. Now, Inter RAO confirmed it is looking for a buyer for its power stations, but said it will not sell its network assets.

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(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Turkmenistan to build new power line

APRIL 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan is looking to build an electricity transmission line to Pakistan and Tajikistan, President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said at a government meeting. The ministry of energy said it is also ready to increase electricity supply to Iran and Afghanistan. Turkmenistan is building three more gas-fired power stations.

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(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

ENA to upgrade Armenian power distribution system

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), the Armenian national grid, said it would invest 20b drams ($42m) into modernising the country’s power distribution system. The largest proportion of this cash will be spent on updating the metering system. Russia-based, but Armenian-owned, Tashir Group bought ENA last year from Russia’s Inter RAO. Electricity is a sensitive topic in Armenia. Last year, when ENA tried to increase prices, streets protests forced it to back down.

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(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kazakh coal production shrinks

APRIL 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Coal production in Kazakhstan could shrink by as much as 20% by 2040, Bolat Akchulakov, president of Kazenergy, an industry lobby group, said. Kazakhstan relies on coal for 66% of its energy consumption. A number of coal fired power plants are currently being phased out both in Kazakhstan and in Russia, the main destination of Kazakhstan’s coal exports.

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(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Power consumption drops in Kyrgyzstan

APRIL 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Consumption of electricity in Kyrgyzstan was down 23% in March compared to last year, due to warm weather conditions, according to industry data. Total consumption amounted to 881m kWh. Severlektro, the largest distributor, said it delivered 438m kWh, 29% less than in March 2015. Previously an opposition MP had said a drop in electricity consumption showed the extent of the economic downturn.

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(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Russian company launches Bukhara power station

APRIL 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Eriell, a Russian oil service company, and Enesol, a UAE-based renewable energy company, said they have launched a 1.2MW mobile solar station, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth of Independent States to power Lukoil’s upstream operations in Kandym, near the border with Turkmenistan. Eriell is one of Lukoil’s largest suppliers in Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Mitsubishi sends turbines to Turkmen power plant

APRIL 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) will supply gas turbines and generators to the 400MW Zerger gas-fired power plant in Turkmenistan. Under a $300m contract signed last year, Japan’s Sumitomo is building the plant in the Lebap region of Turkmenistan, 600km north-east of Ashgabat.

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(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Inter RAO considers selling its Georgian unit

TBILISI, APRIL 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian state-owned power company Inter RAO wants to sell a portion of its electricity generation assets in Georgia, a move that would confirm its retreat from the South Caucasus.

Sources told RIA Novosti that Inter RAO is looking for a buyer for its subsidiary Mtkvari Energy, which operates the 600 MW Mtkvari thermal power plant.

The Mtkvari plant — located near Gardabani, 40km south-east of Tbilisi — is the largest gas-fired thermal power station in Georgia. Inter RAO has been hit hard by an economic malaise in Russia and is looking to raise cash by selling non-core assets.

“At the moment, we cannot confirm that such a deal has taken place,” the company’s press service told media.

Last October, Inter RAO sold Electricity Networks of Armenia JSC, the grid operator in Armenia, to Tashir Group, a Russian real estate company.

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(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)