The last power transmission line (PTL) of Tajikistan in the southwest direction will be connected to the Central Asian Power Grid on August 1, 2023, Minister of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan, Daler Juma, said in Dushanbe, Asiaplustj.info reports.
In this direction, the 500 kV power transmission line is already in operation, along with several 220 kV power transmission lines, clarified the minister.
"There were delays in the schedule due to various objective and subjective reasons, which we have now resolved," said Juma.
He emphasized that it will take more time to connect to the regional grids in the northern direction (in the Sughd region).
"We plan to prepare the lines in the northern direction by the end of this year, but the actual launch of this line will be in April of the following year," added the minister.
In 2018, the Asian Development Bank approved a $35 million grant for the restoration of Tajikistan's parallel operation with the regional energy system through the connection to Uzbekistan's power grids.
Taking into account Tajikistan's government contribution of $5 million, the total cost of the project is $40 million. The implementation of this project was planned to be completed by 2022.
Tajikistan's power system had been operating in an almost isolated mode since 2009.
The disconnection of Tajikistan's power system from the regional energy systems of neighboring countries was attributed to "systematic unscheduled withdrawals of electricity."
Currently, the Central Asian Power Grid includes the power systems of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and South Kazakhstan. The power system of South Kazakhstan is an integral part of the Unified Power System of Kazakhstan, through which the Central Asian Power Grid operates in parallel with the Power System of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Turkmenistan's power system left the Central Asian Power Grid in 2003 and operates in parallel with Iran's power system.
Since April 2018, Tajikistan has resumed exporting its excess summer electricity to Uzbekistan during the summer period in an "island" (autonomous, asynchronous) mode. This means that the energy is supplied to certain territories in the Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan, whose power grids are disconnected from Uzbekistan's central power system.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
August 1, 2023