Uzbekistan’s energy sector to become more efficient with World Bank support

TASHKENT (TCA) — The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors last week approved US$150 million in financing for the Modernization and Upgrade of Transmission Substations Project in Uzbekistan. It is aimed at improving the technical efficiency and reliability of the power transmission networks in the country, the World Bank said.

The project will help the Government of Uzbekistan address an important constraint of its business environment which, combined with efforts by the private sector, will support creation of new jobs. The investment is part of the country’s goal to maintain dynamic rates of sustainable economic growth and transform Uzbekistan into an industrialized upper middle income country by 2030.

“The outdated infrastructure in critical areas of Uzbekistan’s electricity sector, including its transmission network, represents an important bottleneck and source of considerable vulnerability for households and firms,” said Jan-Peter Olters, acting World Bank Manager for Uzbekistan. “The Government’s focus on addressing key institutional and infrastructure constraints will help boost the private sector’s productivity and support the creation of new, well-paying jobs—thereby improving economic prospects and living standards of households, in particular, those in the most vulnerable situations.”

The project will improve the performance of the energy sector by rehabilitating 22 high-priority substations in Tashkent City and 10 regions of the country reducing technical losses and operations and maintenance costs. It will allow the country to acquire 110 kilo-volt/medium-voltage mobile substations and emergency restoration systems required for the speedy repair of outages in transmission lines. This new technology will strengthen the resilience of the national energy grid. By improving efficiency and reducing wasted energy, the project will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the equivalent of the annual energy use of over 6 million families in Uzbekistan.

The project, implemented by Uzbekenergo JSC, is financed with US$92 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and US$58 million from the International Development Association (IDA).

Sergey Kwan

TCA

Sergey Kwan has worked for The Times of Central Asia as a journalist, translator and editor since its foundation in March 1999. Prior to this, from 1996-1997, he worked as a translator at The Kyrgyzstan Chronicle, and from 1997-1999, as a translator at The Central Asian Post.
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Kwan studied at the Bishkek Polytechnic Institute from 1990-1994, before completing his training in print journalism in Denmark.

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