Kambar-Ata-1 Hydropower Project Faces Technical and Regional Challenges
The $3.5 billion Kambar-Ata-1 hydropower plant project on the Naryn River may reach completion by 2035, though its implementation remains constrained by technical and political uncertainties. Estimates for the construction timeline have been revised repeatedly – expanding from an initial six years to the current ten. The Ministry of Energy of Kyrgyzstan expects to begin main construction work in 2027. Infrastructure preparation is already underway at the future generation site using state budget funds, including the construction of roads, a worker settlement, a diversion tunnel, and power transmission lines.
Geological data for the selected dam site on the Naryn River is outdated, requiring a complete and entirely new set of surveys. A detailed examination of unresolved engineering issues may necessitate relocating the dam site, as the financial costs for geological exploration of the old and alternative locations will be comparable. Alexander Yenin, chief engineer of the project management group at Tashkent-based Hydroproject JSC, outlined the state of the documentation at the Hydropower Central Asia and Caspian congress in Bishkek. Yenin has been involved in developing the project’s feasibility study since the Soviet era.
Despite the objective need for fresh data, the decision on the current dam location has already been finalized. This placement was determined with the involvement of international specialists. However, the current update to the feasibility study does not represent a final verdict on all technical parameters of the future hydroelectric power station.
Negotiations among the participating countries focus primarily on financial conditions and resource distribution rather than engineering details. Regional interests traditionally diverge. For downstream nations Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, access to water for irrigation remains the primary concern, making electricity generation a secondary priority. Kyrgyzstan, conversely, is pursuing the project to eliminate its domestic power generation deficit.
Once commissioned, the installed capacity of the Kambar-Ata-1 hydropower plant will be 1,860 megawatts, with an average annual output reaching 5.6 billion kilowatt-hours. This volume will increase power generation in Kyrgyzstan by approximately one-third. The dam will be located eight kilometers upstream from the currently operating Kambar-Ata-2 facility and 17 kilometers from the start of the Toktogul Reservoir.
