Kara-Keche power station

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Kara-Keche power station (Каракечинская ТЭС) is an announced power station in Kara-Keche, Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Kara-Keche power station	Kara-Keche, Naryn, Kyrgyzstan	41.71, 74.76 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the power station.

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Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year	Retired year
Unit 1	announced	coal - unknown	600	unknown	–	–

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner
Unit 1	to be determined [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): Kara Keche coal mine

Background

1,200 MW Proposal

An initial Kara-Keche power station proposal was for a 1,200 MW coal plant using coal from the Kavak brown coal deposits (Kara-Keche and Min-Kush).

According to the April 2014 press report, the French company Alstom would potentially participate in building the plant. According to Marek Stec, President of Alstom Central Asia, China's Eximbank would "probably be interested in this project." Project sponsors were planned to be announced after bids were received.

In March 2016, the Kyrgyzstan government announced an investment competition for mining development of the brown coal deposits in Kara-Keche, as well as the construction of the 1,200 MW coal plant and connecting railway. The state would transfer to the winner the rights to the projects in exchange for a one-time or periodic (royalty) payments.

In April 2016, it was reported that the tender for construction of the coal plant at the Kara-Keche coal deposit did not take place "due to the absence of applications." Later in December 2016, it was reported the government would hire a consulting company to conduct an international tender for the development of a coal mine, power plant, and a railroad worth about US$2.5 billion.

600 MW Proposal

In August 2019, Emil Osmonbetov, Chairman of the State Committee for Industry, Energy and Subsoil Use of Kyrgyzstan, met with representatives of China Energy Co. Ltd. During the meeting, the parties discussed construction of Kara-Keche thermal power plant with a capacity of 600 MW.

In addition, when signing an agreement with the Chinese company TBEA on the modernization of the capital’s Bishkek power station, the authorities also talked about a feasibility study for a Kara-Keche power station. TBEA completed the work, having spent US$3 million on it, but nothing is known about the fate of the feasibility study.

As of March 2020, the government continued to search for investors for the proposal according to remarks by the First Deputy Prime Minister at parliament committee meeting.

As of June and December 2021, there have been no further known developments on the proposal and the project appeared to be cancelled or shelved.

However, in April 2022, the project was once again mentioned as an alternative to building more expensive hydro plants during the national forum on 'The transition of Kyrgyzstan to sustainable energy'. According to IEA report 'Kyrgyzstan 2022 Energy Sector Review', "as of spring 2022, the government continued to search for investors for the proposal." The report further stated that "building a 1200 MW coal plant at Kara-Keche coal mine makes sense in terms of adding baseload to the system currently overdependent on hydro generation. However, the plant should meet the world-class standards for high efficiency and pollution control."

In early 2023, the project was still being considered by the government given the large coal deposits and relatively short construction timeline of about 3 years. The Minister of Energy referred to the project as 600-1200 MW of capacity. In February 2023, Deputy Minister of Energy referred to a positive assessment of the project, stating that “the power plant, if it were built, would be a good help. Its capacity is planned at 600 MW, with an increase in the second stage by 600MW. But now all donors are talking about green energy and it will be difficult to attract funding". Investment cost was estimated at $2-3 billion and the cost of electricity at 1.5 soms.

In September 2023, it was announced that a coal enrichment plant would be built at the site of the Kara-Keche coal field between 2023 and 2025. The processed coal would reportedly supply Bishkek power station, and Kara-Keche power station was not mentioned.

In late January 2024, it was announced that the Ministry of Energy and the Chinese company China National Electric Engineering signed a memorandum on the construction of several hydro plants as plants as well as the construction of a thermal power plant at the Kara-Keche field with a design capacity of 600 MW.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.