The Kyrgyz authorities have launched a discussion of the resumption of uranium mining and the potential construction of a nuclear power plant to respond to the energy crisis and a shortage of water in the water storage reservoir. Public discussions have started, and the draft law is scheduled for consideration on March 25, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports.
The idea of building a nuclear power plant has been discussed since 2020. The Russian authorities have proposed building a small nuclear power plant in Kyrgyzstan. However, the leadership of Kyrgyzstan proposed increasing capacity of the power plant.
Earlier, Deputy Minister of Energy of Kyrgyzstan Talaibek Baygaziev reported on the critically low water levels in the water storage reservoir. The local hydropower plant risks stopping at a certain water level (6.5 billion cubic metres). Therefore, until the water situation improves, citizens are urged to reduce the daily electricity consumption from 70 to 54 million kWh.
In August last year, Kyrgyzstan declared a state of emergency to deal with the electricity crisis. President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov authorised to start construction work on the small Koysu hydropower plant, which is to be put into operation in September 2024 and meet only 20% of the needs of Issyk-Kul Region. Construction work on 3 small hydropower plants in the south of the country is to complete by 2025. Work is underway on the wind power projects, including wind plants near Lake Issyk-Kul in the north and in Batken in the south.
