Electricity demand across Central Asia is expected to increase by 27% by 2030, putting additional pressure on the region’s power grids, according to the Eurasian Development Bank.
Arman Akhunbayev, head of the bank’s Center for Sectoral Analysis, announced the projection during an October 29 presentation of its report, Energy Without Borders: The Architecture of Power Connectivity in Central Asia.
“To prevent energy shortages from becoming an obstacle to economic growth, generation capacity and power grids must be prepared now for new factories and expanding cities,” Akhunbayev said.
The bank stressed that building additional power plants alone would not be enough. With countries in the region planning to add more than 35 gigawatts of new solar and wind capacity by 2035, it called for grid upgrades and investment in energy storage and backup generating capacity.
The report noted that during peak demand on December 10, 2024, around 6.6 gigawatts of generating capacity in Central Asia’s interconnected power system was unavailable or restricted because of technical and resource constraints.
In a separate report published in March, the bank had projected that electricity consumption could reach 370 billion kilowatt-hours annually by 2030, up nearly 40% from around 270 billion in 2024. The October presentation does not specify the baseline for its 27% forecast.
