Eurasian Integration Yearbook 2012

Aigul Absametova. “Integration Processes in the Electric PowerSectors of the EDB Member States”Advanced Economic Cooperationin Sectors and Industriesthe collapse of the Soviet Union. Located on the Vakhsh River, the plantwas expected to become the largest hydropower plant in Central Asia. Thecommissioning of all six units will require approximately $4 billion. INTER RAOUES and RUSAL considered a possibility of taking part in the completion of theRogun HPP, however it was not implemented. Russian-Tajik cooperation inthis project is currently limited to the drafting of engineering documents for thehydro unit (Hydroproject, 2011).Russia, Kyrgyzstan and TajikistanKyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the four countriescooperating in the CASA-1000 project involving the construction of two highvoltageinterstate power transmission lines and three substations in Kabul,Peshawar and Sangtuda to export electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstanto Afghanistan and Pakistan. INTER RAO UES also plans to take part in thisproject. The project was assessed positively by the World Bank. Its preliminaryvalue is estimated at $1.5-$2 billion. Russia intends to invest at least $500million in CASA-1000 (Bigpowernews.ru, 2011).Kazakhstan and KyrgyzstanIn June 2011 the countries signed a protocol to set up a Kyrgyz-Kazakh investmentfund and a number of other documents on cooperation (Fergananews.com,2011). The $100 million investment fund will be used to finance industrialprojects in Kyrgyzstan, including those in the power sector. Kazakhstan intendsto invest up to $12 million to help Kyrgyzstan meet its high demand for powerand heat next autumn and winter.The National Electrical Grid of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan’s KEGOC have alsosigned an agreement on cooperation in the power sector.***The above analysis illustrates that mutual investments in the power sectors ofEDB member states over the 2006-2010 period were primarily unilateral andmostly Russian. This was also one of the conclusions of the EDB’s study in2008 (Vinokurov, 2008) and the situation has not changed since. Investmentin power facilities are backed by supplies of electrical and power-generatingequipment, the majority of which is also produced in Russia.Clearly, integration between the EDB member states is gathering pace.Implemented system effectsElectricity exchanges do have an effect on the integrated national power systemsof the EDB member states. These effects illustrate, to a certain extent, the levelof integration of their power systems. At present, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstanand Kyrgyzstan are contributing to the evolution of power system’s integrationEurasian Development Bank203