Turkmenistan in regional energy trade

Strengthening cooperation in the energy sector by expanding opportunities for energy trade and stimulating the development of modern energy infrastructure is one of the important trends in regional cooperation in Central Asia. According to authoritative international experts, the region has an ideal set of complementary regional energy sources and generation structures that will help realize the benefits of regional energy cooperation to achieve sustainable economic growth.

Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have large reserves of natural gas, oil and coal, while Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic have great potential in the field of hydropower. Central Asia has a great untapped potential in the field of solar and wind energy, and the implementation of national programs in this area will contribute to a gradual transition to clean energy sources. Regional cooperation in the field of energy will lead to a reduction in investment costs for the commissioning of new generating capacities and an increase in the level of development of renewable energy sources.

The region's strategic position also allows it to become a hub for electricity trade between East Asia and Europe. This is especially true given the common borders with Afghanistan, which opens up access through it to other countries in South Asia with a rapidly growing demand for electricity. According to experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the deficit of electricity, for example, in Pakistan is 6,000 MW, in Afghanistan by 2032 an additional 3,500 MW will be required.

Turkmenistan, which is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of energy reserves, plays a key role in the development of regional energy cooperation and, in particular, in electricity trade. The power generating capacities created in the country make it possible not only to reliably and uninterruptedly provide electricity to the domestic consumer, but also to steadily increase its export to neighboring countries. Last year, Turkmenistan increased the supply of electricity to Uzbekistan via the Serdar-Karakul power transmission line (HS of 500 kW). In early June this year, the Islamic Republic of Iran began purchasing limited amounts of electricity from Turkmenistan due to increased electricity consumption. At the recent Turkmen - Kyrgyz negotiations in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan expressed its readiness to meet the energy needs of Kyrgyzstan and substantively discuss the technical, organizational and other parameters of gas and electricity supplies in the autumn-winter period.

Turkmenistan is the main exporter of electricity to Afghanistan, where it is supplied via transmission lines in the direction of Herat, Andkhoy and Badkhyz province. A new stage in energy cooperation with Afghanistan and the countries of South Asia opens the project of a large-scale energy bridge Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP), which will contribute to strengthening peace and stability in the region and give a powerful impetus to its economic development.

The agreement on the interstate energy main - the high-voltage transmission line Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan - between the Governments of the countries participating in the project was signed in February 2018. The project provides for the supply of energy to all infrastructure facilities of the transnational gas pipeline TAPI, as well as the possibility of exporting electricity to Pakistan and other South Asian countries in transit through Afghanistan.

Considerable work has already been done in the implementation of this project. At the beginning of 2021, a power transmission line was put into operation in the direction of Kerki - Shibargan. This transmission line with a length of 153 kilometers and a voltage of 500 kw is part of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan energy highway, aimed at creating infrastructure for the export and import of electricity between the three countries. At the first stage, electricity from Turkmenistan will be supplied to the cities of Andkhoy, Shibargan and Mazar-i-Sharif. At the second stage - by early 2022 - in Puli-Khumri and Kabul with further access to the cities of Pakistan. And in August of this year, it is planned to commission a power transmission line in the direction of the Mary hydroelectric station - the city of Herat in Afghanistan. A 220 kw power transmission line, ready for commissioning, is another stage in the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan interstate energy bridge.