According to a source in the Uzbek energy company, who asked the anonymity, the volume of power being imported will go a long way towards resolving the problems of inadequate power supplies in certain parts of Uzbekistan’s Fergana valley. “Industrial premises will have priority in terms of energy supply, but there will be enough for households too,” says Uznews.net’s source. The new contract with Kyrgyzstan, he confirmed, will have an effect in Tashkent, where there have been a series of power cuts since last year. Uzbekistan’s energy suppliers will be able to redirect power supplied to the Fergana valley to other regions, primarily Tashkent.

For the Uzbekenergo expert, this is a very good deal for Uzbekistan because the cost of Kyrgyz electricity is less than the price Uzbekistan charges for electricity it exports to other countries in the region. For example, Afghanistan pays is 7.5 ¢/kWh for electricity it imports from Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (the latter buys in energy when water supplies are restricted in summer) pay 4.7 ¢/kWh. Uzbekistan’s revenues from electricity exported in summer to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan (Tajikistan stopped buying Uzbekistan’s electricity at the beginning of this year) will compensate for the expenditure on importing energy from Kyrgyzstan. According to the Uzbekenergo source, the total quantity of electricity exported by Uzbekistan could reach 9.9.5 million MWh by the end of 2011.

These electricity exports could fall in the coming years, especially if Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan succeed with the CASA-1000 project. If the project gets off the ground, Uzbekistan’s upstream neighbours – Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – will be Uzbekistan’s competitors in supplying electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan at prices as little as half those charged by Uzbekenergo.

“Uzbekistan wants to export electricity to Pakistan at a cost of 7.5 ¢/kWh, while Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have agreed to charge just 3.5 ¢/kWh. However, the two competing countries are only able to sell relatively small amounts of power – several thousand MWh,” Uznews.net’s source argued.

Uzbekenergo’s own data suggests that Uzbekistan produces about 48 million MWh of electricity annually. Around a quarter of this total is exported to other countries of the region.