In the first half of 2024, Kyrgyzstan imported 2.02 billion kWh of electricity, including 909.8 million kWh from Russia and Kazakhstan, 837.5 million kWh from Turkmenistan, and 275.3 million kWh from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Minister of Energy Taalaibek Ibrayev told a press conference in Bishkek earlier this month.
In 2023, electricity imports amounted to 3.2 billion kWh.
In the first half of this year, Kyrgyzstan produced 7.07 billion kWh of electricity, including 6.2 billion kWh generated by hydroelectric power plants and 0.87 billion kWh by thermal (coal-fired) power plants.
To cope with chronic electricity shortages (especially in cold winter months) amid the growing power consumption, Kyrgyzstan has embarked on a program to build more hydropower plants and new solar power plants. At the news conference, the energy minister said that new small hydroelectric power plants with a total capacity of 43.3 MW have been commissioned since the beginning of this year and new solar power plants with a total capacity of 430 kW have been launched.
The Ministry of Energy is currently preparing for the construction of the Kambarata HPP-1, which will become the largest hydroelectric power plant in Central Asia and is expected to put an end to Kyrgyzstan’s power shortages.
Last December, the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic Akylbek Japarov announced that in 2026, Kyrgyzstan will become energy-sufficient and begin exporting electricity.
