ADB Allocates $15 Million to Tajikistan for Power Grid Reconnection in Central Asia

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a grant of $15 million for a project to reconnect Tajikistan’s power lines to the Central Asian unified electricity grid. The reconnection, it is reported, will be carried out through mutual relations with Uzbekistan. “Through the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program, ADB actively promotes regional power trade among countries in Central Asia and beyond,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “Our support improves the sustainability of the regional power system and helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region.” The additional funding will build a new 22-kilometer, 500-kilovolt power line in northern Tajikistan, connecting the Sughd substation to the New Syrdarya substation in Uzbekistan. This will increase the ability to send and receive electricity between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and improve the infrastructure to prevent blackouts. The project will also help ensure that Tajikistan’s energy system is ready to provide regulatory opportunities for the continued integration of renewable energy in the region. In the long term, it will become a key component of the electricity evacuation scheme for the Rogun hydropower plant in Tajikistan. Previously, ADB approved $17.5 million in grant assistance to improve women's agricultural skills and ensure food security in Tajikistan.

Pilot Public-Private Partnership Project to Modernize Power Distribution System

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will help launch a project to rehabilitate, modernize and operate the outdated electricity distribution system in Samarkand using a public-private partnership. A local distribution system operator has been selected as the platform for the pilot project. Expansion of the project across the entire country is being considered in the future. The Uzbek economy is one of the most energy-intensive economies in the world. On average, it consumes three times more energy for the same unit of GDP than other European and Central Asian countries. Uzbekistan's outdated electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure leads to high losses across the power grid. Modernization and digitization of transmission and distribution systems will also enable the introduction of more green energy-generation capacity. This is especially relevant for renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, as flexible smart systems can more easily adapt to their variable output. Public-private partnership projects have in recent years become increasingly in demand in Uzbekistan. The plan is to implement such initiatives worth $14 billion by 2026. This will cover half of the country's investment needs. With the help of foreign investment, Uzbekistan intends to develop its transportation, energy, agriculture, and social-services infrastructure.