March 4, 2020, Tashkent, Uzbekistan – Today the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) concluded the first meeting of a Technical Working Group formed to support the Central Asian Regional Electricity Market (CAREM).

USAID began its assistance to establish a Central Asia regional electricity market in 2018 to promote the region’s long-term energy security and economic growth. Under this initiative, three working groups: Technical, Legal and Regulatory and Market were created to address issues related to the development of an enhanced regional electricity market in the region. Members were nominated by the Central Asian Ministries of Energy, utilities and power system operators. The Technical Working Group identifies infrastructure improvements to increase the volume of electricity trade among the countries.

This first meeting of the Technical Working Group examined current conditions of regional and national transmission system infrastructures. Participants discussed national transmission technical standards, regulations and IT, principles of power systems integrated operation and the existing agreements among Transmission System Operators (TSOs). USAID presented best practices on congestion management and transmission capacity allocation and provided an overview of other technical issues to be addressed to ensure the successful operation of CAREM.

As a next step of CAREM implementation, the working group facilitated by USAID will commission a study to identify limitations and provide recommendations on electricity modernization and expansion in the region. The working group also plans to conduct several power system studies to define the improvements needed to increase the reliability of regional and national transmission networks, and determine the cross-border transmission capacity to facilitate larger volumes of cross-border power exchanges.

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A regional energy market will serve as a platform for an expanded Central Asia-South Asia regional power market that will deploy lowest-cost power in support of greater economic and social development. USAID’s long-term objective is to establish an integrated power market that ensures fair and consistent transactions for all Central Asian countries; common standards for performance; fair and non-discriminatory pricing; and access to the power grid. For more information, visit www.ptfcar.org/carem.  USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. To learn more, visit: https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional.