The years 2023-2024 can confidently be called a “boom” period for the development of solar and wind energy in Kyrgyzstan. One of the word’s leading countries in terms of the share of renewable energy in its energy mix, Kyrgyzstan has recently become a haven for investments in green energy from a wide variety of nations. This all ties in with the ambition of Kyrgyzstan’s government to make the Central Asian republic self-sufficient in terms of energy and then transform into an exporter of electricity.

Sun, wind and water

According to the 2023 Sustainable Development Report, Kyrgyzstan is now the leading Central Asia country in terms of its key sustainable development indicators, ranking 45th in the world. Kyrgyzstan pays due attention to the problem of climate change, which is already having a negative impact on the republic’s economy. The problem of global warming is aggravating water shortages and reducing the flow of water into strategic reservoirs in the republic, thus limiting the volumes available for hydroelectric power generation. For example, in 2023, the volume of water flowing into the Toktogul reservoir, the largest in the country, was 10 billion cubic meters, 2 billion cubic meters less than in 2022, while outflow rates remained the same.

However, in addition to water, the country has two other serious alternative energy resources that meet the requirements for “green” development and are less dependent on climatic fluctuations — wind and sun. It is these resources that Kyrgyzstan has focused on developing in 2023-2024.

Current projects

In total, as of the time of writing (May 2024), Kyrgyzstan is developing and implementing plans for the construction of 6 wind and 9 solar power plants in all regions of the country. A brief list of events, agreements and memoranda will serve to illustrate the progress Kyrgyzstan has made in this area over the past year:

In May 2023, the Republic’s Energy Minister visited China and........

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