World Bank Launches a $1 Billion Electricity Market Initiative in Central Asia

The World Bank has approved a 10-year program called REMIT (“Development of the Electricity Market and Integration of Energy Systems in Central Asia”), aimed at developing the regional electricity market and ensuring the integration of energy systems. The total financing of the program amounts to $1.018 billion. The World Bank announced this on Thursday.

The project seeks to establish a regional electricity market, expand cross-border electricity trade, increase the transmission capacity of power grids, and promote the large-scale integration of renewable energy sources into energy systems.

Under the REMIT program, annual electricity trade in the region is expected to increase to 15,000 gigawatt-hours, total transmission capacity is to be more than tripled to reach 16 gigawatts, and 9 gigawatts of clean energy capacity will be connected to the energy systems of Central Asian countries.

The “Energy” Coordination and Management Center will be responsible for implementing market and institutional measures. National electricity transmission companies will carry out infrastructure investments, while the Regional Steering Committee of Central Asian countries will oversee the overall implementation of the program.

The REMIT program is designed to make effective use of the complementary energy resources of the region’s countries. In particular, hydropower in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, thermal power generation in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as the growing solar and wind energy potential across Central Asia, form a key foundation of the program.