Central Asian nations are considering the possibility of reviving the regional power grid. Thus, the possibility of connecting power systems of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan has already been studied.
“A certain work has already been carried out on connecting power systems of our countries,” Tajik Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Usmonali Usmonzoda, told reporters in Dushanbe on July 25.
He, in particular, noted that Tajikistan has technical opportunities to supply electricity to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan during the summer period. “If they want to receive relatively cheap electricity during the summer period, they should be linked to our power system,” the minister said.
He further noted that the possibility of connecting power grids of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan had been thoroughly studied by specialists from Barqi Tojik (Tajikistan’s national integrated power company). “Tajikistan is ready to be linked to Uzbekistan’s power system through the Regar substation,” Usmonzoda added.
Frist deputy head Barqi Tojik, Mahmadumar Asozoda, says that they have received proposals from the Uzbek side on bilateral inspection of the power transmission line.
According to him, 500kV power transmission line at the Regar substation and four 200kV power transmission lines in northern Tajikistan could be connected to Uzbekistan’s power system.
Recall, Kazakhstan suspending its participation in the Central Asian unified power grid in February 2009 and redirected electricity supplies for domestic use.
Kazakhstan’s national energy network (KEGOK) said in a statement on February 26, 2009 that extra electricity exports to Tajikistan, for example, led to power outages in southern Kazakhstan.
Uzbekistan officially left the Soviet-era regional power grid that united the country with its three Central Asian neighbors in December 2009.
In addition to pulling out of the system, Uzbekistan stopped delivering electricity to Tajikistan altogether. It also announced that it would hike transit fees for power to Tajikistan.
Tajik authorities that time criticized Uzbekistan’s decision as an effort to put pressure on neighbors. The move left Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan facing severe electricity shortages during the winter months.
Uzbekistan’s geographic location made it one of the most important members of the unified system, as many regions in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan had been supplied with electricity through power lines crossing Uzbek territory.
Tajikistan has repeatedly offered restoration of the Central Asian unified power grid. Tajik power system is fully prepared for operation in parallel with the Central Asian unified power grid. According to the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan (MoEWR), Tajikistan is ready to supply electricity to neighboring countries.
Tajikistan has sufficient summer-time (defined as May 1 to September 30) hydropower surpluses to export to the neighboring countries.
Tajikistan is reportedly able to export up to 5 billion kWh of electricity during summer period. Today, Tajikistan exports 800 million kWh of electricity to Afghanistan and 600 million kWh of electricity to Kyrgyzstan during summer period. The remaining 3.6 billion kWh of Tajikistan’s surplus electricity remain unused during summer period because of withdrawal of Uzbekistan from the Central Asian unified power grid.
Experts note that Tajikistan is the Central Asian state currently most interested in reviving the grid. Tajikistan is particularly eager to see this happen, since it sees export of summer electricity as a potentially valuable source of funds. In 2016, Barqi Tojik exported 1.3 billion kilowatt hours, almost all of it to Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Andrei Zakhvatov, an expert on electricity systems in Central Asia, said last month that Tajikistan is not alone in needing the resurrection of the regional grid.
“Growing populations need more jobs, and development of industry is occurring across all Central Asia. If Tajikistan is able to export cheap electricity to Uzbekistan in summer, then what sense does it makes for Uzbekistan to refuse? You could say the same for cooperation between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan,” Zakhvatov was quoted as saying by EurasiaNet.org.
“For the last 10 months, relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have noticeably warmed,” said Zakhvatov. “As far as we can tell, the leadership of the two countries have come to understand that politics have long undermined the economy, and this situation needs to be fixed. And so there is hope that there will be cooperation in the energy sector, and that it is not only relations in this sector that will improve.”
