DUSHANBE (ADB press service) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $35 mln grant to reconnect Tajikistan’s electricity system to the Central Asian Power System (CAPS) through interconnection with the Uzbekistan system. This will help expand regional energy trade and improve regional energy efficiency among countries connected to CAPS.

The total cost of the project is $40 ml, with the Government of Tajikistan providing $5 mln. The project will install and upgrade modern relay protection equipment for synchronizing Tajikistan and Uzbekistan’s electricity systems, expand interconnection points, and strengthen Tajikistan’s capacity for stable parallel operation. The project is expected to be completed in 2022.

ADB, through the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program, actively promotes regional power trading among central Asian countries and the expansion of power exports to Afghanistan and Pakistan from the region. An interconnected power system in central Asia will benefit all countries, optimize power use, enhance regional energy efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

CAPS is a regional electricity transmission network created during the Soviet Union era, and its operation today is coordinated among Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan. In recent decades, power exchange within CAPS has been in progressive decline, and Tajikistan’s disconnection from Uzbekistan in 2009 limited the effectiveness of an interconnected CAPS. However, the signing of a power trade agreement to restart the electricity trade between the two countries in March this year is a step forward for a renewed regional energy network.

“This project will enable Tajikistan to export summer surplus electricity to Uzbekistan and allow for more efficient use of regional energy resources”, said ADB Finance Specialist Mr. Yuki Inoue. “This reconnection signifies a major step towards a full parallel operation with Uzbekistan’s electricity system and CAPS.”