Russia May Build Second Small Hydropower Plant in Kyrgyzstan

13 September

Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, is in talks with Kyrgyzstan to construct a second small hydroelectric power plant (HPP). This was confirmed by Evgeny Salkov, General Director of Rosatom Service, the power division of Rosatom, in an interview with TASS. Salkov also mentioned plans to explore building similar small-scale hydropower plants in Armenia and Georgia.

 

"We have identified a clear direction—small HPPs with capacities of up to 10 MW. These will be built in various regions of Russia, wherever there are rivers and a need for distributed power generation. In Russia, we are already engaged in several serious negotiations. Abroad, we have only one signed contract so far, which is with Kyrgyzstan. However, we are now discussing the possibility of constructing another plant in this country. We also plan to build small HPPs in Armenia and Georgia," Salkov said.

 

Earlier, it was announced that Rosatom Service, the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund, and Alpha Oil LLC signed an agreement to construct a small hydropower plant named "Chandalash" in Kyrgyzstan's Jalal-Abad region, with a capacity of up to 30 MW. The project is expected to be completed within three years.

 

In addition to small hydro projects, Rosatom Service is also focused on developing biogas plants. Salkov mentioned ongoing discussions for constructing biogas stations in several Russian regions, including Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, and Sakhalin. The first such station, however, will be built in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan.

 

An agreement to fund the construction of biogas reactors worth 12 billion rubles was signed by Rosatom Service and a consortium of financial partners during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in June. The program will be financed from 2025 to 2028, with the total capacity of the planned plants expected to reach 37 MW, along with the production of 150,000 tons of organic fertilizers annually.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: Valeriy29/Creative Commons 3.0

Based on TASS materials