The countries of Central Asia have a significant technically exploited hydropower potential, estimated at 510.1 TWh/year, of which less than 10% is used. This was stated by the Managing Director for Sustainable Development of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) Konrad Albrecht during the UN Conference on Climate Change, Ritmeurazia reports.
The region's hydropower potential varies considerably from country to country, depending on the availability of water resources, Albrecht says. The vast arid and semi-arid plains in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have little or no hydropower potential. The mountainous regions of the east and southeast of Central Asia, including Tajikistan (61.1% of the total potential), Kyrgyzstan (19.4%) and partly Kazakhstan (12.1%), are characterized by a large supply of water with heavy rainfall.
“In Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, more than 90% of the electricity generated is provided by hydroelectric power plants. Tajikistan ranks eighth in terms of hydropower potential in the world. Now only 4-5% of the hydropower potential is used. The joint development of the complex in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia could contribute to an additional GDP growth of 1.5% per year, an increase in water supply by 40%, and attraction of additional investment resources in the amount of USD 22 billion,” said the Managing Director for Sustainable Development EDB.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
November 17, 2022