TURKMENISTAN - The Power Sector.

There have been some improvements in the power sector since Turkmenistan gained independence. Power generation capacity reached around 4 gigawatts by 1995, compared to 3 gigawatts earlier. But production has dropped from 13.1 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in 1992, when consumption per capita was 3,079 kWh, to 10.6 billion kWh in 1993 and an estimated 9.2 billion kWh in 1995.

Total electricity consumption in 1999 was 8 billion kWh. Although the country has the capability to meet its needs, there are serious supply inefficiencies. Turkmenistan has been importing electricity from Uzbekistan in recent years.

One of the goals of the Turkmen government is to achieve self-sufficiency in the electricity sector. In February 1995, a new high-voltage power line began functioning in the north-eastern part of the country, between Darganata-Demirgazyk and Northern Balguyi. This line links Gazodzhak industrial zone with the Turkmen power grid. A 500 kilovolt substation was also built in the north-east, a centre of the gas industry.

In early 1996, the government ended negotiations aimed at getting $45 million in financing for a 123 MW power plant near Buzmein, close to the capital Ashgabat. It was to be the first foreign-built power plant in Central Asia, to be operated by the Turkmen state power agency Kuvvat. General Electric Enerji Sistemieri of Istanbul, a subsidiary of General Electric Corp. of the US, was contracted for the job. With capacity to be raised to 360 MW in a second phase, the plant would have a gas turbine.

Turkmenistan hopes to export surplus electricity to its neighbours. At a summit of the Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) in Ashgabat in May 1997, Turkmenistan offered to sell electricity to Pakistan for 2 cents/kWh. Since the two countries do not share a common border, the project would require construction of a 600-mile transmission line across Afghanistan. A feasibility study on the project has already been done.