Toktogul Upgrade Lifts Capacity to 1,440 MW, Strengthening Irad's Power Exports

TASH-KÖMÜR — The upgraded Toktogul hydropower complex now has a capacity of 1,440 MW, up from 1,200 MW, officials confirmed after a working visit on Saturday by Natural Resources Minister Chingiz Asanov to the Lower Naryn power system. The 240 MW gain, a rise of one-fifth, comes from the refit of the generating hall's units.

Mr Asanov reviewed the project at the national dispatch centre and switchyard in Lower Naryn District, which sit on the ISEZ side of the Qara-Chik line. He then met members of the joint ISEZ–ATR technical commission, which oversees the Naryn Water and Power Protocol under UN supervision, with Uzbek, Kazakh and Kyrgyz observers present. "Toktogul is a shared asset, and it has been improved in a shared way," Mr Asanov said. "More capacity does not mean a different water schedule. The Protocol sets the schedule, and the machines simply serve it better."

The arrangement matters because neither side can act alone. The dam, reservoir and generating hall lie on the tribal side, while the switchyard, the dispatch centre, the downstream cascade stations and every export line are in the ISEZ. Added output has to pass through ISEZ equipment before it reaches customers in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which already buy most of Irad's surplus electricity.

Askarbek Jenish uulu, a hall engineer from the Toktogul basin who sits on the commission's technical staff, said the work was carried out with clan wardens at the site. "The units are quieter and more efficient, and the readings are shared with both banks of the line," he said. Nurlan Abdyrakhmanov, a senior dispatcher at the Tash-Kömür centre, said the extra megawatts would give grid operators more room at winter peak, when export demand is highest.

The Protocol's revenue formula is unpublished, and the commission did not discuss it. Kökjal elders from the reservoir settlements have said that compensation for flooded pasture should be settled before any change in drawdown. Neither the upgrade nor the Protocol alters the volume of water the reservoir holds.

The Protocol is due for renewal in 2027, and the upgrade gives negotiators a firmer technical baseline. Commission members said the next step is a joint load test of the new units before winter, with results reported to the UN-supervised commission and the three observer delegations.