Tag Archives: hydro

Pakistan aims to import Tajik electricity

NOV. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pakistan wants to export Tajik electricity on to other consumer countries, Pakistani media quoted a senior government official as saying. The announcement is, potentially, good news for Tajikistan which is looking for markets for its hydropower. Tajikistan and Pakistan are working on a grid system called CASA-1000.

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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

 

Kazakhstan donates to Kyrgyzstan

NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will donate $100m to Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev said during a trip to Astana to sign a new electricity supply deal. Mr Atambayev described the aid to Kyrgyzstan as can act of fraternal support from Kazakhstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

 

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan agree energy deal

NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan agreed a deal for Astana to meet most of Bishkek’s electricity deficit, albeit at a price greater than Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev would have wanted to pay.

The deal, finalised during a meeting between Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Mr Atambayev in Astana, means Kyrgyzstan must pay roughly three times more for the imported electricity than Kyrgyz citizens pay for domestically-produced electricity. Importantly, it also shows Kazakhstan’s political clout in Kyrgyzstan is growing.

An estimated deficit of 2b kilowatt hours (kWh) this year, caused by a shortage of water in its reservoirs, public reaction to shutoffs drove Bishkek and the potential to sign the deal.

Mr Atambayev will be relieved to have made the deal to import 1.4b kWh from Kazakhstan but here are still problems. He will have to make up the shortfall from somewhere else, possibly Turkmenistan, and he will have to finance the extra costs.

Currently the government has suggested modest tariff increases beginning Jan. 1. These are bound to irritate people in Kyrgyzstan.

Other agreements reached by Mr Atambayev and Mr Nazarbayev at the meeting are also indicative and suggested that Kazakhstan maintains significant leverage over its weaker neighbour.

Mr Nazarbayev promised that a fleet of Kyrgyzstan-bound fuel wagons, owned by Russian energy giant Rosneft and held by Kazakh customs officials without explanation since April, would be allowed to cross the two countries’ mutual border. He also pledged a $100 million grant to Kyrgyzstan as the country prepares to enter the Eurasian Economic.

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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

Tajikistan extend Iran’s ownership of hydropower plant

OCT. 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran said it had reached a deal with indebted Tajikistan to restructure ownership at the Sangtuda-2 Hydropower plant(HPP) plant built and operated in the Central Asian state by the Iranian company Sangob.

The new deal extends the period of Iran’s ownership of the facility by a further two years to 2029, a condition reportedly necessary because of a $40m bill that Tajikistan’s troubled state energy Barqi Tojik firm owes the plant.

Although details of the deal remain shrouded in secrecy, the importance of this agreement is that Tajikistan is having to agree to relinquish ownership of some of its core assets to cover various debts.

Tajik news agency Asia-Plus quoted an unnamed source as saying the deal was actually signed back in September. In March this year, the 100 megawatt plant was briefly shut down, suggesting a dispute between the sides.

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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

 

Kazakhstan to export power to Kyrgystan

NOV. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has agreed to export electricity to Kyrgyzstan to help ease its impending power problems. The deal is likely to be finalised later this week when the leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan meet. Kyrgyzstan has said low reservoir levels means an electricity shortage this winter.

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(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

 

Kyrgyzstan wants Turkmen power

OCT. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz officials flew to Turkmenistan to try to buy more electricity. Kyrgyzstan’s reservoirs are about 25% below capacity and its government has said that it is likely to face a power shortage. Kyrgyzstan has already negotiated to increase power imports from Kazakhstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

 

Uzbekistan opposes Tajik dam

SEPT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Despite a World Bank report tentatively giving backing to Tajikistan’s Rogun Dam, Uzbekistan foreign minister Abdulaziz Kamilov used a speech at the UN to underline his country’s continued opposition to the project. Increased tension between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan over the dam is an important issue to monitor.

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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)

 

Energy crisis looming in Kyrgyzstan

SEPT. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Energy experts handed out more predictions of energy shortages this coming winter in Kyrgyzstan. One expert, Nikolai Kratsov, told the KNews website electricity could be turned off for up to 15 hours a day. Hydropower generates Kyrgyzstan’s power. Reports say reservoir levels are low.

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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

 

WB offers Kyrgyzstan $25m

SEPT. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The World Bank has offered to lend Kyrgyzstan $25m to help improve energy infrastructure ahead of the winter, media reported. Kyrgyzstan is facing a potential energy crisis this winter with water levels in its dams at a low. Energy shortages trigger frustration which bubbles over into public anger.

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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

 

Kyrgyzstan faces energy shortages

AUG. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The level of water in the Toktogul reservoir in Kyrgyzstan, vital for the country’s hydroelectric power production, is down by roughly a quarter because of the especially dry Central Asian summer, media reported. Uzbekistan has also reduced gas supplies leading analysts to predict energy shortages this winter.

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(News report from Issue No. 195, published on Aug. 13 2014)