Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 18
By Fakhri Vakilov-Trend:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is completing implementation of an advanced electricity metering project in Uzbekistan to increase energy saving for entities and households, Trend reports citing Chinese media.
The $150 million pilot project to meter and control electricity consumption in Uzbekistan was launched in 2011, ADB's senior communication specialist Andrew Perrin told reporters on Sept. 17.
“Uzbekistan is one of the highest power-consuming countries in the world, so even small increases in energy efficiency have a significant economic impact," Perrin said.
According to official figures, energy losses during transmission and distribution was as much as 20 percent in 2011, when the project started, almost four times more than the figure in developed countries.
During project implementation, one million private and commercial customers received new smart meters to replace old ones, which were produced between 1960 and 1990.
"The implementation of the project led to a sharp reduction in electricity losses and to an increase in payments from consumers, as well as to an increase in revenues for the utility company. The government announced that smart meters will be distributed throughout Uzbekistan," the official said.
According to experts, the annual energy consumption in Uzbekistan is about 52,000 gigawatt hours, and the reduction of energy loss by only 1 percent will save $26 million a year.
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