nCa Report and Commentary
Summary of the report
- Turkmenistan has started working on the Balkan-Dashoguz power transmission line. This will provide the missing segment to complete the national circular grid, enabling the routing of power from any generation facility to any point in the domestic and foreign consumer network.
- The 254mw Dashoguz power plant will be switched to combined cycle regime, leading to more efficiency and smaller ecological footprint.
- Turkmenistan has finalized the route for transmission of power to Kabul. It will run from the Mary power plant, through Watan power plant, and go through Mazar-i-Sharif to reach Kabul.
- Turkmenistan has also finalized the route for the transmission of power to Pakistan. This route will run through Herat-Farah-Kandahar, reaching the border with Pakistan. The source of supply would be the Mary power station.
- Plans have also been prepared for bolstering the Mary-Serakhs and Werakhs-Mashhad power supply lines.
The Report
President Berdimuhamedov visited the Dashoguz province on Thursday, 20 January 2022.
He visited the construction site of the Balkan-Dashoguz power transmission line, a project that has been started recently.
A presentation was organized at the site.
The head of the Turkmenenergotaslama Institute, V. Rakhmanov, reported on the preliminary designs of the power transmission line with capacity of 500 kilovolts and length of 560 kilometers on the Balkan-Dashoguz route in order to create a ring energy system of the country.
The head of the Turkmenenergogurlushyk concern, N. Ataev, said that the specialists had accumulated rich experience in the construction of power lines and transformer substations of various capacities. Draft designs were presented, including 500-kilovolt transmission lines and substations, a 2-circuit power transmission line Akhal-Balkan with capacity of 220 kilovolts, length of 421 kilometers, capacity of 220 kilovolts, length of 380 kilometers, a 2-circuit power transmission line Akhal-Mary, as well as a Power line Dashoguz-Dashoguz with capacity of 220 kilovolts and length of 25 kilometers, the Dashoguz state power plant, as well as a power line in the direction of the Serdar, Kaakhka, Tejen power plants.
Minister of Energy Kh.Rejepmyradov reported on the transfer of the Akhal state power plant to combined cycle regime, presenting relevant projects. As noted, a steam turbine generator building, 4 steam boilers, 2 transformers and other auxiliary facilities are provided for. In this regard, the necessary measures are being taken to coordinate the activities of the Dashoguz and Lebap state power plants.
The state power plant in Lebap includes a steam turbine building, a refrigeration plant, a boiler house, an air compression station building, a backup diesel generator, a rainwater harvesting device, a transformer substation, a steam boiler, a main control device and much more. Projects of 10-megawatt solar and wind power plants in the Serdar etrap of the Balkan velayat were also reported, the details of their location were presented on the drawings.
Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Ch. Purchekov presented the projects to the head of state and reported on the state of the ongoing work. In particular, they discussed the route of the power transmission line Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan, the section from the Mary State Power Plant to the Watan HPP, as well as the planned laying of a line from the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif to Kabul.
In addition, the projects of power transmission lines from the Mary hydroelectric power station in the direction of Herat-Farah-Kandahar and through Afghanistan to Pakistan were presented to the President. In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister reported on plans for the construction of a 500 kilovolt power transmission line Mary-Mashhad, a 400 kilovolt power transmission line Mary-Serakhs with a length of 140 kilometers and the 15-kilometer Serakhs-Mashhad line.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that as a result of large-scale reforms carried out in this area in recent years, modern power plants have been built in all regions of the country, energy capacities have been increased several times, new thousands of kilometers of power transmission lines have been laid.
Then President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov held a working meeting here with the participation of the heads of sectoral energy departments and specialists of the velayat structures of the Ministry of Energy.
As the leader of the nation noted, the adoption of the “Concept for the development of the electric power industry of Turkmenistan for 2013-2020” made it possible to further strengthen the material and technical base of the industry and increase the volume of electricity produced by several times. Favorable conditions have also been created to improve the reliability of the supply of domestic consumers with electricity, increase the volume and expand the directions of its export.
In connection with the successful implementation of this Concept, two or three power plants are currently operating in each velayat, the head of state said, noting that this creates ample opportunities for ensuring the energy security of the regions and increasing production capacities.
Currently, Turkmen electricity is supplied to our neighbors – to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, as well as to the Kyrgyz Republic. In addition, there is a great opportunity to supply it to third countries through Uzbekistan and Iran, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov continued.
The energy produced by the Dashoguz State Power Plant with a capacity of more than 254 megawatts, in addition to the consumers of the velayat, is sent to other countries.
As a result of the reforms being carried out in the region, the transition of this power plant from simple to combined cycle control is envisaged in the future. And the implementation of these measures will make it possible to produce additional volumes of electricity without the consumption of natural gas, significantly reducing the level of harm caused to the environment.
The President of the country focused on the fact that with the implementation of the Akhal-Balkan-Dashoguz high-voltage overhead power line project, another reliable source of energy will be created, which will give a powerful incentive to the social and economic development of the Dashoguz velayat.
During the working meeting, the head of state listened to the reports of the specialists participating in it.
Completion of the full construction of high-voltage power transmission systems in the Akhal-Balkan-Dashoguz and Akhal-Mary directions and substations will ensure the reliable functioning of the energy system. The Akhal-Balkan direction, which is the first stage of this project, was opened and put into operation in 2021.
At the second stage, construction and installation work is being carried out in the direction of the Balkan-Dashoguz energy system. Taking into account the fact that this direction runs through the Karakum, this means that a colossal amount of work remains to be done. Therefore, great importance is attached to the development of a program for the construction of high-voltage power lines and stations in the Balkan-Dashoguz direction.
Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Ch. Purchekov reported on the comprehensive work on the implementation of the program developed at the initiative of the leader of the nation to create a unified energy system in the country.
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After the meeting the president drove to the poultry complex of the Işewür topar economic society, located on the territory of the Gyorogly etrap.
The head of the Işewür topar economic society, O. Sopiev, informed the President of the country about the state of the work being carried out here, the well-coordinated actions of the friendly team led by him, making a worthy contribution to ensuring the country’s food abundance.
As noted, this farm annually produces 300 tons of poultry meat.
As reported, 210,000 chickens are bred here in six stages per year, that is, 35,000 at each stage. The maturation period of birds for meat production is 45 days. In turkeys, this period is 120 days, in indoptica – 150 days. At this age, the weight of females reaches 8-10 kilograms, males – 14 kilograms.
The President of the country also asked about the process of packing poultry meat, the commercial attractiveness of the packaging and the brand of products.
The entrepreneur said that the prepared meat is produced in attractive packaging under the brand name “Mahmal” [velvet], which indicates the delicate texture of chicken meat produced in environmentally friendly conditions and has useful properties.
The economic society was also allocated a land plot of 50 hectares, where entrepreneurs grow fodder crops: corn is cultivated on 20 hectares, sorghum (or jugara) on 15 hectares, barley on 5 hectares, and clover on the remaining 10 hectares. In addition, the enterprise complex has a workshop, the capacity of which allows processing 800 chickens per hour.
Wishing the entrepreneurs further success in their noble cause, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov headed to the International Airport of Dashoguz, from where he flew to the capital.
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nCa Commentary by Tariq Saeedi
As reported earlier, a Taliban delegation led by Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, visited Turkmenistan on 14-15 January 2022.
Among the wide-ranging decision taken during the visit, it was agreed that there would be some reshuffling in the components of the TAPI Corridor – that TAP (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power transmission network) will go for immediate implementation while TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline) will follow next.
The media outlets reported that TAP implementation could start as early as March this year and an delegation of Turkmen specialists will visit Afghanistan after 20 January 2022 to coordinate the ground work.
The visit of President Berdimuhamedov to Dashoguz region on 20 January 2022 is the first indication that the parties will move ahead as agreed.
The additional element, not broadly publicized previously is that Turkmenistan is ready to supply electricity to Kabul too, and of course the cities and town that fall on the route between Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul.
This is a prudent decision.
Electricity is ready cash. You provide it and you get paid for it promptly.
The benefits are manifold: 1, It will improve the quality of life of the Afghan citizens; 2. It will provide temporary work to some Afghans; 3. It will facilitate the establishment of some small scale production facilities; and 4. It will generate part of the revenues and conditions for the implementation of TAPI in the territory of Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan, despite the constraints caused by the volatility of the energy markets and Covid restrictions, is contributing solidly to the economic stability of Afghanistan. This is being done without any fanfare, without any noise. /// nCa/TDH, 20-21 January 2022