As Central Asia’s Fossil Fuels Near Expiry, Time To Look At Renewable Energy

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan constitute Central Asia. Out of these, the former three are graced with petroleum resources, while the latter two are endowed with water resources. Electricity generation in these countries has, naturally, long relied on their richness in one or the other of the two resources. The downstream countries tend to generate electricity from conventional sources whereas the upstream countries resort to hydropower for the same.

Kazakhstan, for instance, generated about 92% of its electrical power in 2020 from conventional power. In this, Coal had a share of 72%, natural gas had a share of 19% and oil had a share of 1%.

Uzbekistan generated about 90% of its electrical power in 2020 from conventional power. Its subsoil is rich in oil, natural gas, coal and uranium. With regards to natural gas, it ranks eleventh in the world for mining and fourteenth for explored reserves. With regards to uranium, it ranks sixth in the world for mining and seventh for explored reserves.

Turkmenistan generates all of its electricity from conventional power sources, of which natural gas and oil are the chief ones. Despite its vast reserves of natural gas and oil, Turkmenistan is not a major player in energy markets. Its lack of infrastructure limits its exporting capabilities. Over the past several years, the country has been increasing investment to develop its reserves and exports.

Meanwhile, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan generate most of their electrical power from hydropower. Imported oil, natural gas and coal follow.

However, this dependency on a single source of power has proved to be troublesome for these Central Asian countries. The upstream countries face power outages when there are droughts or water freezes and the downstream countries face power outages when there is a shortage of supplies in power plants. Unfortunately, the occurrence of power outages only increased during the pandemic.

Renewables. Failing to take action now could be disastrous for Central Asian countries. Power outages are already causing protests. The countries have made a good start but they need to expand to a larger scale to accelerate the transition.

An early start has been made by Chinese firms, besides middle eastern firms seeking projects in markets otherwise familiar to them. More competition, and bigger targets will be in everyone’s interest eventually.

 

Written By Vedang Singh