After a massive pre-dawn explosion on February 2 at the Bishkek Thermal Power Plant, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov pledged to order a “complete modernization” of the plant, which he described as “older than me.” Five people were injured, three of them seriously, in the explosion, which the Ministry of Emergency Situations said occurred in a … Read more
It is a puzzling question: why do the energy-rich Central Asian states experience frequent energy crises? The answer points to a trap, a ticking bomb that every winter threatens to explode into an insurmountable challenge for the region’s people and its governments alike: the region’s old infrastructure needs billions in immediate renovations and the region’s … Read more
Winter focuses the mind on staying warm, particularly in Central Asia where temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees Celsius for weeks at a time. As the region prepares for winter, people know that their heating supply could be disrupted by unexpected power outages and interruptions in district heating, or by the unavailability of fuel. … Read more
Advertisement On August 1, amid a hot summer and the looming shadow of another winter to come, a decree signed by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov last week declaring a three-year energy emergency went into effect. The government deemed urgent measures necessary to “bring the Kyrgyz Republic out of the energy crisis associated with climate challenges, … Read more