BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 26. Kyrgyzstan’s geographical conditions, particularly its mountainous terrain, make cross-border energy transportation rather challenging, Trend reports citing the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
As the ADB notes, the country has no oil pipelines, so oil and petroleum products are transported mostly by rail from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan’s local consumers and refineries.
However, Kyrgyzstan is connected to neighboring countries via two natural gas pipelines. The first is Bukhara–Tashkent–Bishkek–Almaty, a transit pipeline that runs from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan via the northern part of Kyrgyzstan, with a total capacity of almost 4 billion cubic meters per year, mostly for transit.
The second cross-border natural gas pipeline has a minor capacity and runs through the southern part of the country, connecting it with the natural gas system in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan.
"Both pipelines are operated by Gazprom. In addition, Kyrgyzstan is an integral part of the Central Asian Power System (CAPS), which interconnects Central Asian countries at all voltage levels. The Kyrgyz Toktogul hydropower plant regulates the CAPS frequency, thus providing services that ensure the stability of grid operations," the message said.
Moreover, Kyrgyzstan is part of the Central Asia–South Asia (CASA-1000) project, which focuses on the construction of a 1.3 GW transmission line for power exports from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"It is important to note that the uncertain political situation in Afghanistan, through which Kyrgyzstan will transfer its electricity, has rendered any predictions as to when and if the CASA-1000 project can be successfully commissioned difficult," the ADB said.