Environment - The Times Of Central Asia

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Energy

Uzbekistan Solar Panel Program Targets 3,100 Sites in $20 Million Project

A $20 million solar-panel program in Uzbekistan has so far provided 1,580 homes and 334 public institutions with free electricity-generating systems. A further 1,197 households are expected to receive the equipment by May 2027. The program, known as Yorqin Xonadon (“Bright Home”), is being implemented by Uzbekistan's Ministry of Energy, Saudi energy company Acwa, and China Southern Power Grid International. According to information provided to The Times of Central Asia by Acwa, the initiative was launched in April 2023. About 65% of the new installations are intended for Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic in northwestern Uzbekistan that has been severely affected by the drying of the Aral Sea. Each home receives solar panels with a capacity of approximately 3 kilowatts (kW) and a battery with a storage capacity of 4.8 kilowatt-hours (kWh). During the day, the system generates electricity, while stored energy can be used in the evening or when sunlight is insufficient. How well this setup meets a particular family's needs depends on its electricity consumption and the season. Program participants can reduce their electricity bills and receive payments for surplus power supplied to the grid. According to the Ministry of Energy, more than 45,000 people received a total of 209.2 billion soums (approximately $17.8 million) for electricity supplied to the grid in 2025. While the initiative could help recipients reduce their electricity bills, its contribution to the country's overall energy needs will be small. The 2,777 household installations planned under the program would together provide about 8.3 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity. Based on the country's solar potential, these systems could generate approximately 12–13 million kWh annually, less than 0.02% of the 86.7 billion kWh produced nationwide in 2025. The estimate excludes installations at public institutions, for which capacity figures have not been provided. Uzbekistan's electricity consumption is rising, while natural gas remains the country's main source of power. Large solar and wind farms generated 10.5 billion kWh of electricity in 2025. Although Yorqin Xonadon will make only a small contribution to national electricity generation, it could help thousands of low-income households reduce their energy bills.

Nuclear Safety

Kazakhstan Nuclear Emergency Center Opens With U.S. Support

Kazakhstan has opened a center to monitor radiation and coordinate responses to nuclear and radiological emergencies, with support from the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. The center opened on October 2 under Kazakhstan’s Atomic Energy Agency. It will receive and analyze radiation data, facilitate information exchange between government agencies, and coordinate their actions during emergencies. The authorities also plan to train specialists and conduct practical emergency-response exercises. Kazakhstan is the world’s largest uranium producer and operates nuclear research facilities. The consequences of Soviet nuclear weapons testing at Semipalatinsk continue to require monitoring and remediation. Between 1949 and 1989, 456 nuclear tests were conducted at the site, leaving areas contaminated with radioactive material. Emergency preparedness needs will increase as the country develops nuclear power generation. In an October 2024 referendum, 71.12% of those who voted supported the construction of a nuclear power plant, with turnout at 63.66%. The authorities have since begun preparations for second and third plants. The first new nuclear power plant is planned near the village of Ulken on the shore of Lake Balkhash. A consortium headed by Russia’s Rosatom will lead the project. The site for a second plant has been designated in the Zhambyl district of the Almaty region, near the first project, while China National Nuclear Corporation has been selected to lead the second project. Kazakhstan can also exchange urgent information on nuclear and radiological emergencies through the international system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre is the round-the-clock global focal point for emergency communication and coordinates information exchange and international assistance. Kazakhstan plans to train specialists for its future nuclear power plants both domestically and abroad

Land Restoration

Kyrgyzstan Plans to Restore Land in Syr Darya Basin

Kyrgyzstan plans to restore degraded land in the Syr Darya basin as shrinking glaciers and declining forest cover raise concerns about the future of one of Central Asia’s main water systems. The four-year project will restore at least 264 hectares in the Jalal-Abad region, mainly within the Kyzyl-Unkur and Toskool-Ata forest enterprises. More than 27,000 people are expected to benefit directly from work on damaged land, including forests and agricultural areas. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations will implement the project with the country’s Forestry Service, using financing from the Global Environment Facility. The work will include agroforestry, sustainable land and water management practices, ecosystem restoration, and monitoring of land degradation and natural hazards. It also aims to avoid emitting or to sequester about 2.22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Upstream conditions affect water supplies far beyond Jalal-Abad. The Naryn rises in Kyrgyzstan and joins the Kara Darya in Uzbekistan to form the Syr Darya, which continues through Tajikistan and Kazakhstan before reaching the North Aral Sea. Its water feeds large farming areas as well as a chain of reservoirs and hydropower plants. That system is becoming harder to manage as glaciers retreat and the timing of river flows changes. Kyrgyzstan depends heavily on mountain runoff and faces a longstanding seasonal trade-off, needing water for winter hydropower generation while downstream agriculture requires larger releases during the summer growing season. The work in Jalal-Abad is small compared with the size of the basin, but comes as the country reassesses how climate change could affect its water supplies. Mountain forests are closely connected to glaciers and river headwaters, making land degradation an issue for water management both domestically and downstream. The national climate adaptation plan through 2035 calls for new monitoring and early-warning systems to address these risks.

Caspian Sea

Japan Funds $3 Million Caspian Sea Monitoring Project in Kazakhstan

Japan is funding a $3 million project to improve monitoring of the shrinking Caspian Sea, focusing particularly on Kazakhstan’s shallow northern basin. The project, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with Kazakhstan, was officially launched in Aktau on October 5. Experts from across the Caspian region are expected to take part in joint research and a regional scientific platform designed to improve the exchange of data and expertise. For Kazakhstan, the most immediate problem lies in the northern Caspian. The water there is extremely shallow, meaning that even relatively small declines in sea level can push the shoreline back considerable distances. Habitats used by Caspian seals and sturgeon are already changing, while ports and shipping face growing difficulties. Scientists link the decline to changes in the Caspian Sea’s water balance. The sea has no connection to the world’s oceans and depends on river inflow, precipitation, and evaporation. The Volga supplies most of its river water, while rising temperatures are increasing evaporation. In July 2025, the Caspian was reported to have fallen to its lowest level in the instrumental record. The Times of Central Asia reported that the shallow northeastern section along Kazakhstan and Russia was retreating particularly rapidly. The consequences could become far greater than the shoreline retreat already visible today. A study published in Communications Earth & Environment found that a five-meter decline from the study’s reference level could turn about 77,000 square kilometers of the Caspian’s current water surface into land, equivalent to around one-fifth of its present area. The northern basin would be among the areas most severely affected. The new project is intended to provide a clearer picture of how the decline is unfolding. Specialists will assess Kazakhstan’s existing observation network along the northern Caspian and identify where additional monitoring sites and modern equipment are needed. Sea level and river-flow measurements will be combined with data on temperature, salinity, evaporation, weather conditions, seabed depth, and satellite observations to improve projections of future changes. Kazakhstan is also tracking the volume of water reaching the Caspian. According to data from the Zhaiyk-Caspian basin inspectorate cited by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, 6.16 billion cubic meters had reached the sea since the start of 2026. Over the previous two and a half years, the total exceeded 35 billion cubic meters, including more than 17 billion during the exceptional floods of 2024.

Environmental Assessment

Sea Breeze Uzbekistan Clears Second Stage of Environmental Review

The $5 billion Sea Breeze Uzbekistan project has completed the first two stages of its environmental impact assessment, receiving positive state environmental opinions for both, according to the Ecology Committee. The controversial resort is planned for the shores of the Charvak Reservoir, one of the most popular recreation areas near Tashkent. Its location has made the project the subject of sustained environmental scrutiny. Uzbekistan’s National Committee for Ecology and Climate Change said the second-stage opinion was issued on September 10. The review will continue with a final assessment planned after construction is completed and before the complex is put into operation. The project is being developed by Azerbaijani businessman and singer Emin Agalarov, who spent more than two decades at Crocus Group, the property company founded by his father, Aras Agalarov. He left in 2023 to focus on his own development business. Agalarov was formerly married to Leyla Aliyeva, daughter of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. His flagship Sea Breeze resort is on Azerbaijan’s Caspian coast. Plans for the resort include hotels and residences alongside leisure and commercial facilities. The project also envisages a bridge across the reservoir and venues for year-round concerts and festivals. From Government Approval to Environmental Review In August 2025, the Uzbek government approved the direct lease of 577 hectares in the Bostanlyk district of Tashkent region to Sea Breeze Uzbekistan LLC for 25 years, with a preferential right to extend the lease. For critics of the project, the central issue from the outset has been water. Charvak plays an important role in the region’s water system and is used for water supply, irrigation, and hydropower. Its shores are also one of the main resort areas for residents of Tashkent. Construction of a large complex has raised concerns about pollution and the pressure it would put on the shoreline. The #SaveChorvoq campaign emerged on social media in 2025 as activists sought greater scrutiny of the plans. The first stage of the environmental review, approved in February 2026, required further hydrological and biodiversity studies. The second stage reviewed those findings and set more specific conditions for construction and operation. Its positive opinion was issued on September 10 and remains valid for three years. Public hearings were held in the Bostanlyk district on January 23, 2026, giving residents and environmental groups an opportunity to raise objections and proposals. Members of the Ecology Committee’s Public Council have also carried out site inspections, which the committee said have so far found no breaches of environmental requirements. Separate water-protection requirements apply to the project. Its wastewater is to be taken outside the coastal area and directed to a centralized treatment system, while construction must take place outside designated water-protection zones. The timing of the approvals has also drawn scrutiny. The government approved the investment project and land lease in August 2025, six months before the first-stage environmental opinion was issued. In August this year, authorities were still awaiting documents needed for the second stage, including details on wastewater infrastructure and the scale...

Water Security

Opinion: Central Asia’s Old Water Bargain Was Built for Cotton

Central Asia inherited a water bargain built for another economy. In the Soviet system, upstream republics stored water and released it for summer irrigation. Downstream republics used that flow for cotton and other crops. The cost of the exchange stayed inside one plan. Water releases, electricity, fuel, and crop quotas were part of the same political economy. After 1991, the dependence survived, but the plan that balanced it did not. The 1998 Syr Darya agreement already tied reservoir operation to irrigation releases and set compensation for the winter power Kyrgyzstan gave up. The 2000 Chu-Talas agreement went on to share the cost of operating and maintaining shared water infrastructure between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Those agreements were important, and they show why today’s dispute is not new. Central Asia has long known that water regulation carries a cost. What it has not built is a wider settlement that prices storage and seasonal regulation under today’s climate, energy, and market conditions. That question is now open again. In January 2026, Kyrgyzstan’s new Water Code came into force. It recognizes water as a commodity and introduces fees for domestic and external users. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have rejected payment for transboundary river water, saying existing agreements do not provide for it. Downstream governments fear an open-ended bill and a precedent that could turn every dry season into a financial dispute. The old model rested on cotton and central planning. Several conditions have changed. The climate is less stable, energy demand keeps rising, and national economies now want more from water than a cotton plan once did. Uzbekistan’s own reform language has turned against the old cotton model. At the UN General Assembly in 2023, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said “millions of people were forced to pick cotton” in Uzbekistan over a century. In August 2026, he called the old system one that left Uzbeks “slaves to cotton.” That history shapes the water argument. Uzbekistan is not abolishing cotton. It still grows the crop and continues to reform the sector. But as Tashkent moves away from the old cotton-centered model, the regional water logic built around that model also needs revising. The same pressure runs through the Amu Darya, where agricultural adaptation has become an economic and political issue rather than a purely hydrological one. Less predictable river flows make seasonal storage more valuable. Water is also becoming scarcer in parts of the region. Kyrgyzstan sits at the center of that question. It is the only country in Central Asia whose water resources are almost entirely formed within its own territory, and Kyrgyz officials argue that it carries the upkeep for infrastructure that serves its neighbors. They say the country spent about $80 million on the water sector last year and around $259 million over five years. That spending covers the water sector as a whole, including infrastructure whose benefits reach beyond Kyrgyzstan’s borders. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan reject paying for river water, saying existing agreements do not require it. But storing that water and releasing it...