Kazakh Energy Suppliers Warn of Upcoming Power Deficit
Posted on: Saturday, 31 May 2008, 03:00 CDT
Text of report by privately-owned Kazakh Channel 31 TV on 30 May
[Presenter] Kazakhstan faces an energy crisis. Energy consumption is increasing in the country every year, while the existing power stations are able to satisfy the demand for energy only up to 2009, the country's energy suppliers said at a special meeting in Almaty today.
According to experts' forecasts, if the measures are not taken immediately, Kazakhstan's north and south will be the first to suffer energy shortages, while the west will become more dependent on foreign supplies. Besides, almost all power stations are worn out and the equipment's exploitation period exceeds all acceptable norms.
The government has already adopted a plan for developing the sector up to 2015. It includes construction of new [power] stations and reconstruction of the existing ones. This will require over 2 trillion tenge [the current exchange rate is 120.47 tenge for one dollar]. The energy companies are insisting on introducing amendments to the tax and land codes in order to enhance the sector's attractiveness for investors as well as on government guarantees to attract loans and credits.
[Kanat Bozumbayev, captioned as the chairman of the board of the Samruk state assets holding company, in Russian] Preparations are carried out, aimed at the soonest start of the construction of a new modern power station - Balkhash thermal power station with a capacity of over 2,600 MW. This includes the construction of the third unit at the Ekibastuz-2 state regional power station as well as continuing the modernization of the national power grid and the construction of the Alma substation in [southern] Almaty Region to supply power to the town of Almaty. It is planned to reconstruct and modernize key power stations in Almaty, including the expansion of the Almaty-2 thermal power station, which will make it possible to increase power capacity by almost 200 MW.
Originally published by Channel 31 TV, Almaty, in Russian 1500 30 May 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Central Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: BBC Monitoring Central Asia
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