Negotiations are underway on a possible switch of the Bishkek Heating and Power Plant to natural gas. Arzymat Aldayarov, Deputy General Director for Economy and Finance of Gazprom Kyrgyzstan LLC, told today at a press conference.
According to him, the Government has already applied to Gazprom Kyrgyzstan with a request for a discount. In response, the company gave its calculations and the minimum price for which they are ready to sell the fuel.
«But we cannot go below the cost at which we ourselves buy gas. We offered a very attractive price, the discount is more than 25-30 percent. Bishkek HPP and Electric Stations received the calculations. We daily discuss this issue with the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Energy Holding,» Arzymat Aldayarov said.
Two options are being considered for Bishkek HPP’s switch to gas. The first assumes that the HPP will operate using gas in winter and coal — in summer. In this case, consumption will reach 395-400 million cubic meters of natural gas. The second option is a year-round operation of the HPP using natural gas. In this case, the facility will consume 515-520 million cubic meters of gas.
«In 1991-1992, the HPP consumed about 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year. All boilers, at least in the old part, can safely operate using gas. At the same time, the discounts that we have announced include, among other things, the effect of an increase in volumes, when prices become lower with an increase in fuel consumption,» the Deputy General Director at Gazprom Kyrgyzstan said.
