TASHKENT (TCA) — Uzbekistan is taking efforts to restore a single energy ring with its Central Asian neighbors Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, with a possible extension to Afghanistan, Uzbekistan’s official information agency Jahon reports.
Kyrgyzstan supplies electricity to Uzbekistan to improve irrigation and rational use of hydropower resources in Central Asia, the agency said.
During Kyrgyzstan’s president’s visit to Uzbekistan in October, an agreement was signed on supply of electricity from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan.
According to the contract, it is planned to supply 550 million kilowatt-hours of Kyrgyz electricity from December 2017 to March 2018. On December 15 of this year, Kyrgyzstan began supplying electricity to Uzbekistan. So far, 3.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity has been consumed, and its daily volume is increasing.
The energy system of Uzbekistan works in close relationship with the energy systems of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and other CIS countries. This process is carried out through power lines with a voltage of 220 and 500 kilovolts (kV). The small station Lochin in the Fergana valley is connected to Kyrgyzstan’s energy system by a 500 kV line. There are seven 220-kilovolt and two 110-kilovolt interstate networks in the valley.
In the same way, the energy systems of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are interconnected. As a result, an energy ring is operating between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, which allows ensuring optimal energy modes of operation.
At present, Uzbekistan is developing international energy cooperation based on mutually beneficial economic relations. In particular, Uzbekistan is helping neighboring Afghanistan by exporting electricity to this country. In the future, it is planned to build a 500-kilovolt line in Surkhandarya region for increasing power supply to Afghanistan. In addition, JSC Uzbekenergo, Uzbekistan’s national energy company, plans to establish cooperation with the energy system of Tajikistan.
Cooperation with the energy system of Turkmenistan is also planned, which will make it possible to use the power system of Uzbekistan for the transit of Turkmen electricity to other countries in the region.
