KEGOC Management Board Chair Kanat BOZUMBAYEV:
CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES ARE IN THE SAME "ENERGY" BOAT AND THIS HAS TO BE KEPT AFLOAT

A lot has been said this autumn about the problems of the Unified Power System of Central Asia (UPSCA). Some countries voiced their intent to pull out of the UPSCA. To make matters worse, Uzbekenergo said November 5 that the UPSCA had no future at all. Kanat BOZUMBAYEV, the president of the national grid operator KEGOC, told Interfax-Kazakhstan in an interview what would follow if the UPSCA fell apart and what problems the UPSCA state-members were encountering.

We are all together, but no one knows exactly where we are now

- Do you think the Central Asian countries may stop using the UPSCA? What may the consequences be for Kazakhstan's power grid and the power system of the whole Central Asian region?

- To begin with, I would like to clarify one thing. The Central Asian countries cannot stop using the UPSCA because the existing "ring" of 500kV lines (Tashkent-Shymkent-Taraz-Bishkek-Toktogul Hydro-Syrdarya Hydro-Tashkent) ensures a reliable operation of the power grids in the whole Central Asian region and southern Kazakhstan. If any of the national power grids leave the UPSCA the "ring" will lose its integrity and, as consequence, the power supply to the customers will not be reliable any more and, furthermore, some parts of the Central Asian states will encounter an electricity shortage.

The national power grids cannot but work together. Let me explain why.

First, the power system was designed in the Soviet time in such a way that it can only operate reliably as a whole. Disintegrating the system will lead to interruptions in power supply to the customers in all the Central Asian areas. If the UPSCA stops operating as a whole system, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan will get most affected (in the order as they are mentioned here).

For instance, Uzbekistan does not have enough peak power and may experience too much difficulty in maintaining the frequency.

Second, the power grids of the above said countries are only able to maintain the frequency of 50 Hz if they are electrically tied to and operates at a synchronized frequency with the Kazakh-Russian power system. If not, the power plants and industrial facilities may get damaged and shut down.

It is worth mentioning that Kazakhstan's power system would be the last to be affected should the UPSCA cease to work. I would like to remind that Kazakhstan has put into service a second line of the North-South power transmission system and has enough spinning reserves at the Zhambyl Power Plant to ensure a reliable and uninterrupted power supply this autumn and winter.

Shall we pull out of UPSCA or not?

- Anyway, recently KEGOC said that Kazakhstan's power system may pull out of the UPSCA because, it was said, Tajikistan had been withdrawing electricity without authorization.

- That is true. This autumn the Tajiks started withdrawing the electricity from the UPSCA without any contracts and payments. Tajikistan, which is going to face a shortage of about 1.2 billion kWh (or around 30% of all its consumption) this winter, was planning to get this electricity from Turkmenistan. However, on realizing that it might be very difficult today to reach agreement with Uzbekenergo on transmission of this electricity Tajikistan started getting ready for the winter through unauthorized withdrawal of electricity from Kazakhstan.

After the Kazakh and Uzbek power systems switched their operation into a semi-independent mode, our colleagues from Dushanbe cannot do it any more. Such behavior of the Tajik colleagues together with the inefficient operation of the Uzbek power system put at risk our North-South overhead line, which might become overloaded. If this line, which carries 1900 MW, goes down, about 50% of the customers in Almaty, the Almaty, Zhambyl, South Kazakhstan and Kyzylorda regions will get disconnected for a long period of time.

In this situation KEGOC, being aware of the threat to the national power system and intending to insure the reliable power supply to the customers in Kazakhstan, asked the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources for permission to pull out of the UPSCA if the situation became worse.

We have received such permission and are now making necessary preparations. I would like to emphasize once again: we will leave the UPSCA if only the synchronized operation jeopardizes the Kazakhstan-based power facilities and consumers.

Note

In late October KEGOC said that in November this year Kazakhstan might pull out of the Central Asian power system and switch its electrical grid to independent operation, for there had been unauthorized withdrawal of electricity from the Central Asian power system by Tajikistan. Besides, at present there is difficulty in transmitting the Turkmen electricity through Uzbekistan to Tajikistan. On November 13 Nozir Edgori, the press secretary of Barki Tochik (the Tajik national energy company), said that Tajikistan did not have technical capabilities to withdraw electricity from the UPSCA without the authorization. According to him, since October 29 the Tajik power system had been operating independently after the Uzbek power system had stopped working in a synchronized mode with the UPSCA.

- You have said that it will be difficult for the Uzbek power system to operate independently of the UPSCA. Then why should Uzbekenergo leave the Unified Power System of Central Asia?

- I assume that Uzbekenergo is trying to resolve the problem of payments for transmission of the Kyrgyz and Tajik electricity through its network.

I think this issue has become so burning because this year Uzbekistan is finishing the construction of 500kV power lines, Novo-Angrenskaya Power Plant-Uzbekistanskaya Substation and Guzar-Surkhan.

Note

Earlier Mr Bozumbayev said that Uzbekistan had notified Kazakhstan of its plans to pull out of the UPSCA starting October 15. Later Tashkent abandoned the plans. However, in early November the Uzbek newspapers published an article written by the director of Uzbekenergo's Control Center, Eso Sadullayev, who expressed some doubts concerning the future of the UPSCA. A source in Uzbekenergo told Interfax that the ideas contained in Mr Sadullayev's article could be regarded as the official position of the Uzbek government.

- Do you think it may be possible to introduce a legal mechanism to control the electricity withdrawal from the UPSCA by the Central Asian countries?

- Non-contractual withdrawal of electricity from the UPSCA has become possible, as the members of the Unified Power System of Central Asia have not been able to resolve all legal aspects and issues. For instance, today Kazakhstan does not have bilateral agreements with the other partners and, thus, such important matters as power system control and payments are not specified anywhere. Our partners refuse to sign such agreements, as they are unwilling to assume the obligations resulting from the agreements.

I would like to remind that back in 2005 the Central Asian countries established the regional Energy Council, which is to deal with a variety of issues in order to ensure an efficient and reliable operation of the national power grids. All decisions are jointly made by the national grid operators: KEGOC, Uzbekenergo, National Energy System of Kyrgyzstan and Barki Tochik (Tajikistan).

Unfortunately, the national energy companies do not always follow the decisions made by the Council. However, this organization has proved to be indispensable for conducting talks and making decisions that are essential for the whole UPSCA. Anyway, we should get together more often and find solutions to the existing problems.

- Thank you for the interview!

November, 2009
© 2009 Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency
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