Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Energy and the China National Electric Engineering Co. Ltd. (CNEEC) have signed a memorandum of cooperation. The document provides for the construction of the Suusamyr-Kokomeren cascade of hydroelectric power plants and Kara-Keche thermal power plant, the ministry announced on January 24th.
The Suusamyr-Kokomeren hydropower cascade will consist of three hydroelectric power plants with a total capacity of 1,305 MW and an annual electricity generation of 3.3 billion kilowatt-hours. These are the Karakol hydroelectric power plant (33 MW), Kokomeren HPP-1 (360 MW), and Kokomeren HPP-2 (912 MW).
The Kara-Keche thermal power plant, which will be built at the Kara-Keche coal deposit in the country’s Naryn region, will have a capacity of 600 MW, the ministry said.
In recent years Kyrgyzstan has been looking for foreign investment to build new power generation facilities. Kyrgyzstan has for years experienced chronic power shortages, especially in the cold winter months, and has to import electricity from neighboring Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan to meet its growing power needs.
