Sary-Bulak Plans 146 MW Small-Hydro Cascade on the Chatkal River

SARY-BULAK — A cascade of small hydroelectric stations with a combined capacity of 146 MW is planned on the Chatkal river, with the first site at the mouth of the Chatkal valley in Sary-Bulak District, Sary-Bulak District head Taalaibek Imashev told residents at a public meeting in Sary-Bulak this week.

"This is clean power made from our own water, in our own district," Mr Imashev said. He told the hall that the first station would stand on the ISEZ side, close to the foothill villages of Uuk-Bulak and Tash-Bulak, and that the district expects work for local builders, drivers and maintenance crews if the project goes ahead.

State Joint-Stock Company Iradenergo, the ISEZ power utility, said it would buy everything the cascade produces. Spokesman Vladislav Ten said site surveys and a feasibility study are under way. "Nothing is decided until the study is finished," he said. No construction contract has been signed, and neither the cost nor the financing has been published.

At 146 MW, the cascade would equal about a tenth of the 1,440 MW now produced at the Toktogul Dam and Hydroelectric Station after the refit announced this month. That makes it a modest addition to the power balance, but a welcome one. It fits the Lieutenant Governor's push to add generating capacity once the Toktogul work is done, so that winter supply is less dependent on a single plant.

The upper stations would lie in the Chatkal Highlands, where the river and its catchment are held by the Naiman and Sarybagysh clans, and could be built only with the consent of the clans there. Officials describe this as a matter for respectful discussion. The question comes as the ISEZ and the Chatkal clans prepare for the 2027 renewal of the Naryn protocol, in which Lieutenant Governor Aidar Maksat is expected to sign for the ISEZ.

Residents at the meeting asked mainly about timing and jobs. "We have watched the water go down this valley all our lives," said Meder Kalyk uulu, a farmer from Tash-Bulak. "If it can light our houses and give our sons work here, we will gladly listen."

Mr Ten said Iradenergo will report to the district once the feasibility study is complete. Mr Imashev said he would hold a further meeting with villagers when the survey results are ready.