The Ministry of Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic proposes to use renewable energy sources to reduce the electricity shortage in the country

The Ministry of Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic submitted for public discussion a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers “On measures to accelerate the implementation and expand the use of renewable energy sources (RES) and increase energy efficiency in the Kyrgyz Republic.” On December 18, the department posted the document on the website of a single portal for public discussion of draft regulatory legal acts of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The justification note states that today in Kyrgyzstan there is an urgent issue of transition to the efficient use of energy resources, including through the use of environmentally friendly, renewable energy sources, which include the sun, wind and other energy sources that have virtually no waste, emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere or water bodies. This measure is envisaged in order to reduce the power shortage in the country’s power system.

According to the department, to solve this problem, it is proposed to take urgent and mandatory measures to reduce energy consumption through the use of renewable energy sources through improved thermal insulation:

- in private households,

- in apartment buildings,

- at social facilities,

- in housing and communal services,

- in state and municipal bodies and institutions,

- and in sectors of the economy, regardless of the form of ownership.

It is also proposed to resume the operation of all mothballed boiler houses and prepare existing local, departmental electric boiler houses, privately and collectively owned, for transfer to the use of coal and natural gas as fuel in combination with the use of renewable energy sources in a supporting mode.

According to experts from the Ministry of Energy, this will reduce the load on the power system of Kyrgyzstan during the Emergency.

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce is invited to:

- recommend to business entities the construction of installations of renewable energy sources (solar panels) on buildings and structures owned by them, as well as on adjacent properties owned by other legal entities on a lease basis with the possibility of selling excess electricity not consumed for the entity’s own needs;

- recommend that subjects of energy-intensive industries (mining, cement and building materials production, foundry production, alcohol production, textile and clothing production), agriculture and processing industries install renewable energy sources in their administrative buildings and adjacent territories;

- recommend that business entities engaged in commercial activities in the sphere of public services, public catering and the clothing industry, if they have transformer substations on their balance sheet used for power supply to their facilities, ensure the installation of renewable energy sources in their buildings and adjacent territories in order to provide their own electricity and hot water needs;

- together with the State Agency for State Property Management, consider the issue of the possibility of producing modern energy-saving equipment at the production facilities of Mailuu-Suu Lamp Plant CJSC;

- together with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and state and municipal authorities, within a month, determine a list of specific projects for the creation of joint ventures engaged in the supply of technologies, production and maintenance of solar panels in the regions of the republic with the involvement of foreign manufacturers;

- together with the State Customs Service under the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic and the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic, introduce mechanisms to simplify the import of solar panels.

The Green Energy Fund is invited to:

- develop a procedure and implement mechanisms for determining state participation in an economic entity created by an investor on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic for the construction and operation of electricity generation facilities using renewable energy sources, taking into account an objective assessment of state investments;

- together with the Department for Regulation of the Fuel and Energy Complex under the Ministry of Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic, develop a procedure and implement mechanisms for subsidizing an authorized electric power company to reimburse the costs of purchasing electric energy from renewable energy sources (difference in tariffs).

The National Investment Agency, together with the Ministry of Economy, as well as the Ministry of Energy, are invited to ensure the signing of agreements on attracting funds from international financial organizations in order to implement projects for the development of renewable energy sources and the modernization of electrical networks.

Gosstroy is offered:

- from January 1, 2024, introduce a requirement to install solar panels on at least 50 percent of the free part of the roof of new multi-storey buildings (regardless of ownership) during their design and construction;

- develop a mechanism for introducing microgeneration facilities at existing and new construction sites;

- ensure control of the widespread implementation of energy efficiency standards by conducting energy inspections of buildings and structures and marking buildings and structures according to the level of energy consumption.