ALMATY, Kazakhstan, June 25. The water-energy nexus is a particularly important issue for Central Asia, Demir Kabylbayev, Senior Analyst at the EDB’s Industry Analysis Center under the Bank’s Analytical Directorate, said, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
He made the remarks during a presentation of the bank’s analytical reports held as part of its Annual Meeting and Business Forum.
He said the EDB had conducted an assessment of the energy transition sector in Central Asia and identified a number of key challenges.
“First, infrastructure is aging — both generation capacity and power grids — resulting in high losses of up to 20%. Electricity demand is rising, while flexible generation capacity needed to integrate renewable energy sources remains limited. Cross-border electricity trade is also relatively underdeveloped,” Kabylbayev said.
He emphasized that, from an environmental sustainability perspective, the water-energy nexus is especially significant for the region.
“Water is a strategic resource in Central Asia and plays a crucial role in energy production, irrigation and providing drinking water to the population. Therefore, this is a highly sensitive issue that requires a balanced approach,” he added.
Kabylbayev also identified limited diversification of the energy sector as one of the remaining risks. According to him, each country in the region relies predominantly on a single major source of electricity generation, which creates certain technological, geopolitical and economic vulnerabilities.
“We propose a balanced approach that combines the advantages of different solutions. This includes modernizing existing thermal power plants, expanding renewable energy capacity, and introducing technologies that support the integration of renewables. In particular, the development of gas-fired generation is currently necessary to ensure the effective integration of renewable energy,” the EDB representative said.
