Turkmenistan defines Pakistan, Tajikistan as main direction for power transmission
By Fatma Babayeva
Pakistan and Tajikistan are strategic directions for Turkmenistan to construct power transmission lines.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov announced about this during a teleconference, the Turkmen government reported on April 12.
This sphere plays an important role in turning Turkmenistan into a country with rapidly developing industry, said Berdimuhamedov emphasizing the significance of this sphere in developing and expanding the export potential of the country.
The Turkmen president stressed that Turkmenistan increased production capacity of energy significantly thanks to the development works implemented in this sector. Now the country fully meets the domestic demand for electricity, and has potential to increase the electricity export to neighboring countries, particularly Iran and Afghanistan.
The country’s Energy Ministry submitted a report to the leadership during the business meeting, and highlighted ways to increase the export volumes of electricity to Iran and Afghanistan.
The Ministry informed that in total, 470 megawatts of electricity per hour is supplied to these countries at the present time.
Currently, there are 12 operating power plants with 47 turbines in Turkmenistan. The country is building three gas turbine power plants in Lebap and Mary provinces with a total capacity of 2,260 megawatts.
The electricity production in Turkmenistan was 22.5 billion kilowatt-hours during 2015, and 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of it were exported to neighboring countries.
Turkmenistan is keen on increasing its electricity output to 27.4 billion kilowatt-hours by 2020, and 35.5 billion kilowatt-hours by 2030.
It plans to build 14 gas-turbine power stations in its different regions within the framework of the Concept of Electric Power Industry Development of Turkmenistan for 2013-2020.
The successful implementation of this concept will help to provide all provinces of the country with uninterrupted electricity during all seasons and generate additional income via increased exports.
Pakistan is currently suffering severe energy crises. The demand for electricity in the country exceeded the supply by 5,000 megawatts in2015. The cost of the electricity generated by the country is also very expensive.
Pakistan’s power policy 2013 includes an ambitious agenda to increase generation, raise tariffs, and improve efficiency, says June 2015 report of U.S. Institute of Peace.
Tajikistan is another country whose electricity system is in crises according to the WB Group 2013study.
About 70 percent of the Tajik people suffer from shortage during the winter time. These shortages were estimated to be around 2,700 gigawatts.
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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva
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