Kyrgyzstan has the cheapest electricity among Central Asian countries. This conclusion is reached after a comparative analysis of electricity tariffs in Central Asian countries, local media reported.
At the same time, it is worth noting that the Central Asian countries, against the backdrop of rapid growth in electricity consumption and the obsolescence of the energy-generating infrastructure, have been facing a systemic energy crisis for the past few years. In fact, today all countries in the region have already overcome the energy maximum, when electricity generation in the region is insufficient for the growing demand for consumption. All this creates a situation where the Central Asian countries are faced with the need to adopt and implement an appropriate program for the development of the energy sector, where it is necessary to use the entire range of possibilities.
Energy situation in Tajikistan
According to media reports, many cities of district and regional significance in Tajikistan do not have centralized heating systems. That is, there are no thermal power plants for generating heat and electricity.
Rolling blackouts often exceed 10 hours per day. Thus, electricity is supplied 2 times a day, namely in the morning from 5:30 to 8:30 and in the evening from 17:30 to 22:00. The rest of the time, electricity is completely unavailable. At the same time, cellular communications are also disconnected, which causes discontent among residents.
In addition, many citizens of the republic express dissatisfaction in social networks regarding the annual sale of electricity to Afghanistan, the volume of supplies and prices of which are not indicated anywhere by the government of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Centralized heat supply is available only in Dushanbe, but this system does not fully cover the needs of the capital's residents. According to various estimates, from 15% to 20% of the city is provided with heat due to the thermal power plant built by the Chinese company TBEA. The rest part of the city is provided by electric heating, in some apartments they even use potbelly stoves, and in the outskirts or private houses they use solid fuel.
Electricity supply in Dushanbe is in normal mode, there are no rolling blackouts, if they do occur, they are associated with repair or emergency work and the period of outages is 2-3 hours.
Energy situation in Uzbekistan
Despite the measures taken by the authorities of Uzbekistan, the data indicate rolling blackouts in villages and settlements across the country, in particular, in the villages of the Korgon-Tepin and Pakhta-Abad districts of the Andijan region, the power is turned off daily for 3-4 hours without a specific schedule of blackouts.
It should be noted that the authorities of Uzbekistan in 2024 took measures in advance to prepare for the autumn-winter period by providing social facilities with solid fuel, carrying out repairs at substations and power lines, as well as redistributing gas from gas stations to boiler houses of social facilities and enterprises, which is confirmed by the onset of cold weather by a temporary restriction on the activities of gas filling stations.
In October 2023, the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan instructed to develop a program for the modernization of power lines and transformers by the end of 2026. By this time, it is planned to reduce the share of electricity losses in the networks by 1.5 times.
At the same time, due to the energy crisis that occurred in the winter heating period of 2023-2024, associated with a decrease in natural gas production and an increase in energy consumption by the population, the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan introduced social norms for electricity consumption.
In particular, the following social norms for energy consumption for the population have been established: electricity - up to 200 kWh per month per house; natural gas (from March to October, and in Karakalpakstan and the Khorezm region - from March to September) - up to 100 m3; natural gas during the heating season (from November to February, and in Karakalpakstan and the Khorezm region - from October to February) - up to 500 m3.
These social norms are set below those adopted in July 2022 (electricity - 250 kWh, natural gas outside the heating season - 200 m3, during the heating season - 700 m3), with the refusal to increase tariffs and introduce basic norms.
At the same time, tariffs for electricity and natural gas increased from May 1. Thus, for individuals, prices have increased: up to 200 kW/h - 450 soums (3.03 soms) per 1 kW/h, 201-1000 kW/h - 900 soums (6.05 soms), 1001-5000 kW/h - 1350 soums (10 soms), 5001-10000 kW/h - 1575 soums (11 soms), over 10000 kW/h - 1950 soums (13 soms).
According to the new rules, the population's electricity costs have increased by approximately 2.5 times.
In addition, in order to save electricity, restrictions on electricity consumption have been introduced throughout the republic, that is, electricity is periodically cut off en masse not only in the regions of the republic, but also in Tashkent city.
Energy situation in Kazakhstan
Despite the statements of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan about the construction of a nuclear power plant, the problem of energy deficit remains relevant in Kazakhstan.
Earlier, expert circles noted that the deficit in Kazakhstan reaches 1.5 thousand megawatts. In total, this is approximately five or six regional centers, such as the city of Uralsk and the West Kazakhstan region. Consumption there currently amounts to 250-300 megawatts at peak loads.
According to data of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, by 2035, electricity consumption in Kazakhstan will reach 152.4 billion kilowatt-hours, while existing stations will be able to produce only 135 billion kilowatt-hours. At the same time, many thermal power plants, being old and heavily worn out, have long been operating at the limit of their capabilities. Their repair and modernization cost billions of budget money. They do not solve the issue of a significant increase in existing generation. At the same time, electricity tariffs in Kazakhstan are: up to 100 kW/h - 20.14 tenge (3.34 som), from 100 to 180 kW/h - 26.76 tenge (4.44 som), from 180 and above - 33.44 tenge (5.55 som). Rolling blackouts under the guise of emergency and preventive measures are also observed on the territory of the country, however, the Ministry of Energy carefully monitors to prevent mass discontent on the part of residents of populated areas and regions of the republic.
Energy situation in Kyrgyzstan
With the onset of cold weather, the energy sector of the Kyrgyz Republic is faced with the problem of providing electricity to large cities of the country. The flow of water flowing from the Toktogul reservoir increases daily, and now its flow through the hydroelectric units of the station is 932 cubic meters per second, which may negatively affect the supply of electricity to the population in the coming years.
If electricity consumption continues at this rate, the volume of water may sharply decrease to 6 billion cubic meters before the end of the winter heating season. This means that by April 1, 2025, the volume of water in the reservoir will be 6.5-6.2 billion cubic meters, which may lead to a critical level.
In this regard, the Ministry of Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic admits that due to the decrease in air temperature, the population began to use electricity much more.
Currently, in areas with excessive use of electricity, the equipment in the electrical network is overloaded. In this case, power engineers need 1-2 hours before transferring subscribers' electricity to another line. Accordingly, temporary shutdowns are introduced during this period. If this is not done, then expensive power equipment may fail. For example, the price of a 220 kilowatt transformer with a capacity of 250 megawatts is 1 million 518 thousand US dollars. The manufacturing and delivery period will be 150 calendar days. Its reinstallation will take approximately 1-1.5 months.
In order to prevent emergency situations associated with increased electricity consumption, power engineers announced a temporary reduction in power on subscriber meters, restrictions will be introduced during peak hours, in the morning - from 06:00 to 09:00, and in the evening - from 18:00 to 21:00. At the same time, Energy Minister Taalaibek Ibraev said earlier that the electricity tariff would increase from May 1, 2025. According to him, the annual growth in electricity consumption in Kyrgyzstan is about 10-15%. The current tariff for consumers using up to 700 kilowatts is 1.11 soms per kilowatt-hour. After the increase, the tariff may increase to 1.20-1.30 soms per kilowatt-hour. Ibraev emphasized that if tariffs are not increased, the country will face a threat of power supply interruptions and mass power outages, which will lead to difficulties for the economy and the daily lives of citizens.
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