Kyrgyzstan has launched a $35 million project to modernise its power grid and support construction of the Kambarata-1 hydropower plant, reported Akchabar.
The five-year programme, Innovative Financing for the Transition to Sustainable Energy (iFIRST), is backed by the World Bank and the Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF). The agreements were signed in Bishkek on October 23. The money will go to:
- modernising electricity grids;
- digitalising power system management;
- developing renewable energy;
- building a national greenhouse gas monitoring system;
- energy sector reforms;
- social assistance for vulnerable households if electricity tariffs rise.
The project targets the country’s most pressing economic problem. Kyrgyzstan expects to import about 4.1 billion kWh of electricity this winter, roughly a fifth of its demand, and many households live with consumption limits. Kambarata-1 on the Naryn River is planned at 1,860 MW. It is a joint project of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and would be the largest hydropower plant in Central Asia after Tajikistan’s Rogun. Donors have signalled readiness to provide about $2.5 billion. The tariff-support component signals that the reforms are likely to include higher electricity prices, a politically sensitive step ahead of the January election.
CentralasianLIGHT.org,
November 10, 2026