OREANDA-NEWS. September 24, 2009. The World Bank and Kazakhstan Grid Operating Company “KEGOC” are praised for completion of North-South Electricity Transmission Project.  The Project has been implemented several months ahead of schedule. Besides its high importance this Project stands out as a most efficiently prepared and implemented operation.   Working closely, the World Bank and  KEGOC prepared the Ekibastuz-Agadyr section of the North – South (N/S) line in 2005 in a record time (4.5 months).  Because of a well-administered tender, about USD 5.7 million was saved for the USD 100 million World Bank loan. Today the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev officially inaugurated this section of the N/S line in Ekibastuz City of Kazakhstan.

Completion of the second N/S electricity transmission line marks a decisive move forward to remove a critical bottleneck in Kazakhstan’s prospective economic growth.  As a result of the project, the capacity of the existing N/S line is more than doubled from 650 MW to 1,350 MW.  Metaphorically, this project is called the “energy bridge” between the north and the south or the “lifeline” for the Kazakh economy.

Expanding and improving the N/S transmission links offers numerous benefits in terms of system reliability, increased export and transit capacity, removal of growth-retarding power deficit in the south and more effective use of low-cost power plants in the north, particularly in the Ekibastuz region.  The resulting low electricity tariffs help to sustain the country’s competitiveness in energy-intensive exports, including metals and petrochemicals.  From a broader development perspective, the N/S project will enhance the well-being of the population southern Kazakhstan by providing inexpensive and higher quality energy and increasing the region’s competitiveness in terms of industrial and commercial development with related benefits terms of employment and income.

At the same time, the new transmission line allows Kazakhstan to become the “energy bridge” between Russia and Central Asia by unlocking new opportunities for increased electricity trade and better integrated power markets in the region.  Prospectively, via Kazakhstan more hydroelectricity could be exported from Tajikistan and Kyrgyztan to the power deficit regions of Russia.

“The new transmission line will also improve the reliability of parallel operation of the power systems of Russia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, thus improving the quality of power supply across the region.  Therefore, this project is seen by the World Bank as a regional strategic asset”, said Istvan Dobozi, Lead Energy Economist of the World Bank and Task Team Leader of the Project.

The World Bank’s overall mission in Kazakhstan is to improve people’s lives by promoting diversification and competitiveness of the economy and creating more job opportunities. Since July 1992, the Bank has provided 34 loans to Kazakhstan for the total amount of more than 4.2 billion US dollars.