How to reduce electricity losses in Tajikistan

Sergei Kondratiev, Deputy Head of the Economic Department commented to the radio station "Sputnik Tajikistan" on the situation in the electric power industry in Tajikistan.

Sergei Kondratiev, senior expert at the Institute for Energy and Finance said, what needs to be done to reduce losses in the electricity sector of Tajikistan.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon demanded to reduce electricity losses. He recalled that the authorities continue to strive to achieve energy independence of the republic.

"At first glance, when compared with other countries, the CIS, large Asian countries, 16% is a lot. For example, in Russia, losses in 2019 were about 9%, in most large Asian countries, losses do not exceed 10%. However, in some regions, our losses can be several times greater, for example, in the North Caucasus, electricity losses are 24%, which is more than in Tajikistan," the expert explained in an interview with Sputnik Tajikistan.

According to him, it is very important here, what is accounted by this indicator. Here, both the actual technological losses, that is, associated with the transmission of electricity, inefficient equipment and simply physical losses, and commercial, that is, unaccounted consumption, when the consumer does not pay, and the supplier cannot find it, can be taken into account.

"In the case of Tajikistan, when we talk about 16%, there are both technological and commercial energy losses," he added.

According to Kondratiev, both can be reduced, and Tajikistan has some experience in this direction, for example, installation of new metering systems, that allow obtaining readings in real time, leads to a reduction in the theft of electricity.

Tajikistan needs to invest in infrastructure, the expert said.