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Eurasia
October 13, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 21
Zarif has already lobbied for such an outcome and on October 6, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s nuclear agency, made some possibly reveal-
ing comments while talking to Iran’s Fars News Agency. Iran, he said, would be forced to abandon
the accord if other nations followed a US exit and reimposed sanctions. However, he tantalisingly added: “But if the US leaves the deal on its own with the others adhering to it, the situation will be different.”
Uzbekistan strikes hydropower deals with Kyrgyzstan as rapprochement continues bne IntelliNews
Kyrgyzstan’s National Energy Holding Company and Uzbekistan’s Uzbekhydroenergo have signed a contract to launch electricity supplies from Kyr- gyzstan to Uzbekistan. The energy companies also signed an MoU on cooperation in constructing the Kambarata-1 hydropower plant and an agreement on interstate use of Orto-Tokoi water reservoir located in Kyrgyzstan’s Jalal-Abad Province.
The deals come amid a rapid warming of relations between the two countries that were previously fiercely divided over Kyrgyz plans to exploit water resources in the Syr-Darya river basin. Kambarata-1 will be built on the Naryn river which is a tributary of the Syr-Darya, one of Central Asia’s two great rivers.
Relations between Uzbekistan and its Central Asian neighbours are improving thanks to the coming to power of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The agreements were signed as part of Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev’s official visit to Uzbekistan on October 5-6. It marks the first time Uzbekistan will import Kyrgyz electric-
ity since the unified energy system of Central Asia consisting of 83 Soviet-era power plants with a total capacity of 25,000MW collapsed in 2009. Moreover, tensions between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan under the late autocratic Islam Karimov’s regime in Uzbekistan allowed for no possibility of restoring electricity imports from Kyrgyzstan.
Uzbekistan intends to import 1.2bn kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2017, Trend news agency reported on September 14, citing an anonymous source from state-run Uzbekenergo coal and electricity company’s management.
“We should not argue about Kambarata-1 and we should build it together. Of course, first of all, it is to the merit of the president of Uzbekistan,” Atambayev said.
As the current Uzbek president hopes to restore Uz- bekistan’s cooperation with Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan is planning to initiate the restoration of parts of the Central Asian unified energy system.
The development is also in line with Kyrgyzstan’s energy ambition as the country hopes to become
a net energy exporter as early as 2017. This will be partly achieved thanks to favourable climate condi- tions raising river water levels, which will allow the country to fill up its Toktogul water reservoir at 19.5bn cubic metres. The water collected at the reservoir will help the country generate enough hydropower to halt the country’s need for electricity imports this year.
Moreover, the country will launch two new units at the Bishkek Thermal Power Plant with additional generation capacity of 200MW and heating capacity of 200 Gcal/h. This combined with hydropower projects lined up for upcoming years, will likely increase the country’s regional electricity export potential.