Round table summary

On 28 June 2007 the Institute for Public Policy hosted a round table with experts on “Energy Security of Kyrgyzstan: Challenges and Opportunities.”

Experts who took part in discussion included the President of the Oil Traders Association of Kyrgyzstan, former deputy Prime Minister Bazarbai Mambetov, the Adviser to the General Director of “Marka-Audit”, former Finance Minister Sultan Mederov, representative of Ministry of Industry, Energy and Fuel Industry Dr. Almaz Biybosunov, Consultant of the Institute for Research of Problems of Water Usage and Water-energy Resources in Central Asia” Ernest Karybekov and Economics Professor Toktorbek Stanbekov.

Opening the discussion, President of IPP Muratbek Imanaliev said that very heated debates during the discussion of a bill on Kambarata hydro power plants and the emergence of groups that urge the President not to sign the bill leads one to question: whether there is a need to attract foreign capital for construction and exploitation of the stations. How would these plants fit the overall concept of energy security provision in the country?”

According to participants, energy security in the country strongly depends on the uninterrupted increase of generating power and the decrease of dependence from energy import from neighboring countries. In this sense, there should be no question that the Kambarata power plants should be completed to start working. Even if construction of these stations took not 5-7 years (as promised by some politicians and experts) but longer, they would still be in demand, because by 2015-2020 Kyrgyzstan would have huge energy deficits. Nevertheless, round table participants noted, one should not consider adoption of the aforementioned bill as a guarantee of energy security in the country.

First of all, much depends on how the construction work on the Kambarata stations is outlined. The creation of an international consortium, as planned right now, with the participation of Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Kazakhstan, and possibly, Uzbekistan will prolong the process for a long time. “All those countries have their own interests and most likely it will take no less than two years just to agree on how to arrange the work,” experts said.

 

Secondly, there is the privatization of distributing companies that is being actively lobbied after adoption of the law on Kambarata hydro power stations. It applies, first of all, to tariffs policy on electricity. “There is no guarantee that a new owner would not secretly agree with a regulating body in order to speculate with tariffs. There is no guarantee that the major bulk of electricity would not be sold outside the country for economic expediency, at the expense of the local population and the country’s economy,” round table participants said.

While the construction of Kambarata stations remains very important, experts said that Kyrgyzstan should still develop alternative options for securing energy security.

First of all, according to round table participants, it is necessary to pay attention to the coal industry. They said that the construction of a heating station, which works on coal, would take less time and cost less than the construction of a hydropower station. If a heating thermoelectric power station is constructed in Karakeche, it could compensate for electricity shortage in winter, which we are experiencing at present. That could allow freeing the Bishkek heating and power plant from generating electric energy, for which Kyrgyzstan imports coal from Karaganda (Kazakhstan.) As experts said, decreasing the dependence on Kazakh coal would already constitute an important step towards energy security. According to them, the Bishkek plant can further be relieved via the introduction of the autonomous supply of hot water to Bishkek city.

The generation of electricity at heating plants during summer time would reduce the dependence on hydroelectricity, which would make it possible for Kyrgyzstan to stop producing electricity in Toktogul cascade and, accordingly, store water in the reservoir in summer. This would be helpful in negotiating better terms with neighboring countries on electricity export, since they would need water to be released during the spring and summer period.

Increase of export, in its turn, would allow taking some measures to decrease the commercial losses in electricity. It was said that from resources received from export, Kyrgyzstan could set up an automatic system of commercial account of electricity at Toktogul cascade, which would automatically exclude energy theft, and return about 4 billion kWt per hour back to account.

One of the constructive, but presently ignored directions is the development of small and micro energy. As several experts noted, this sector is not so burdensome in terms of capital, and could well relieve pressure on big hydro and thermal stations. Experts also said that the positive attention of the international community to problems of sustainable development in mountainous regions could be well used in the development of small and micro energy in the country.

But the main requirement for ensuring an effective plan for energy security is, according to experts, a clear understanding of the country’s development scenario by the authorities. Experts said that, “firstly we have to know what and how we would develop, and depending on the answers, plan the construction of power generation.” At the moment the population consumes more electricity than industry and if the government plans to develop industry, the situation is tough. “Today the government wants to sell the “Kristall” state company, but the question is whether Kyrgyzstan has the additional 1.5 billion kilowatts per hour for this plant to operate,” experts said.■