Artur Andrysyak, Country Director of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Turkmenistan Resident Mission, highlighted the bank’s commitment to supporting Turkmenistan’s energy and renewable energy sectors during his presentation at the international conference “Construction, Industry, Energy of Turkmenistan” (CIET 2024).
ADB’s engagement in Turkmenistan is aligned with its country partnership strategy, which aims to assist the country in becoming a more sustainable, climate-resilient, and competitive economy.
To date, ADB has approved two loans totaling $500 million for Turkmenistan. These projects include the North-South Railway project and the National Power Grid Strengthening Project, which aims to enhance the country’s power grid infrastructure.
The Bank is also engaging with the country on several other projects, including in health sector, transport sector and energy sectors.
Energy sector
Energy Sector is one of the key areas of ADB’s engagement in Turkmenistan. The overall approach includes:
- Continued long-term engagement in the energy sector in Turkmenistan
- Focus on reducing inefficiency and accelerating low-carbon transition
- Investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy, low-carbon pilot projects, and reforms through possible policy-based loans
- Support for regional cooperation and integrations, including exports of electricity and gas, and diversification of markets
- Strong focus on capacity building, institutional strengthening, and bringing of new technologies
In terms of investments, the Bank focuses on renewable energy, modernizing the power grid, converting and modernizing the existing gas fire power plants and supporting exports of electricity and gas.
In terms of technical assistance ADB has provided over $11 million of technical assistance on grant basis to Turkmenistan. Technical assistance is focused on:
- Support for strengthening the institutions, capacity building and reforms
- Preparation of studies, strategies and roadmaps
- Support for introduction of new technologies
- Facilitation of south-south cooperation, partnerships, and knowledge exchange
- Support under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC)
Renewable energy
In terms of renewable energy projects in Turkmenistan, ADB, called itself a climate bank for Asian Pacific, is ready to provide sovereign and non-sovereign financing, as well as advisory service.
Firstly, ADB is collaborating with Turkmenistan on solar power. ADB is providing $1 million technical assistance grant to support introduction of solar energy and storage in Arkadag city. ADB has financed study tours for officials of Ministry of Energy of Turkmenistan, Turkmenenergo and other entities to learn about solar power projects in Uzbekistan, Denmark, Norway, and many other countries
In the wind power, ADB is currently providing $750,000 technical assistance grant, which will support evaluation of the wind potential for renewable energy in Turkmenistan. It would support analysis of potential sites for the wind farm and support work on energy efficiency project.
The Bank is also supporting development of strategies, which will position Turkmenistan to further increased investment in this very important sector. So ADB again on grant basis is providing support to develop a study and roadmap for low carbon transition in Turkmenistan.
This is a very important starting, which will analyze existing and future supply and demand projections for the power sector under different scenarios up to 2070. Roadmap will outline steps to deliver enhanced energy efficiency measures and renewable energy expansion towards low-carbon transition in the power sector in line with Turkmenistan’s policies and commitments.
Methane emission reduction
ADB also stands ready to support Turkmenistan’s efforts to reduce its methane emissions, and here the Bank is working very closely with the government and other Development Partners to support the country’s efforts in this area.
The ADB’s One-Stop-Shop solutions cover the whole value chain for clean energy transition, providing comprehensive support to the government from policy support to formulate doable environments for projects and project identification to implementation. This includes technical assistance for project preparation, access to financing on favorable terms, and support for project implementation and monitoring.
By leveraging its experience in the clean energy sector and its network of partners, the ADB can help the government identify and prioritize the most promising clean energy projects, and provide tailored solutions that meet the specific needs of each project.
ADB Project Pipeline, 2024-2027
Sovereign projects
Building Capacity of SME Exporters Project
Improving Nursing Quality and Capacity Project
TransTurkmenistan Railway Modernization Project (Phase 1, Ashgabat–Dushak)
National Power Grid Strengthening Project (additional financing)
Professional Education for Tourism and Services Project
Building Capacity of SME Exporters Project (Phase 2)
Support for Urban Development
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project
TransTurkmenistan Railway Modernization Project, (Phase 2, Mary–Dushak)
Nonsovereign Projects
No firm projects for 2024-2027
Currently pursuing PPP and private sector investment opportunities in the renewable energy, railway, maritime and logistics sectors
Framework Agreement has not yet been signed by the Government
///nCa, 4 November 2024