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Tashkent is upgrading the heating system for $1.5 billion
A project to change the city's heating system worth $1.5 billion is being implemented in Tashkent. This was reported by the press service of the Asian Development Bank.
The aim of the project is to improve the quality and reliability of heat supply, increase energy efficiency, reduce water consumption and leakage, as well as reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
This was the result of ADB's advisory support to the municipality of the capital to support the transaction in the period from 2019 to 2022, within the framework of which an innovative form of PPP was developed to modernize the district heating system of Tashkent.
The upgraded heating system will be transferred from an open system to a closed one. It is noted that this step is one of the first such steps in the communal systems of Central Asia.
"District heating systems were originally designed as open hot water supply systems, but this led to accelerated deterioration of heat transportation and distribution networks and inefficient use of energy. The new system is being implemented in Sergeli and Bektemir districts as a pilot phase from 2022. New boiler houses using efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, such as pre-insulated pipes circulating in a closed system, replace outdated networks," the ADB said in a statement.
In addition, the PPP structure adopted for the project is an affermage structure, where the private partner is responsible for the operation and maintenance of infrastructure, but not for financing investments. The private partner does not receive a fixed fee for their services.
Instead, it withholds some of the user fees, and some of the proceeds are sent to the purchasing authority as the owner of the assets.
It is expected that this initiative, when fully implemented, will allow reduce heat loss in the grid by more than 40%, minimize breakdowns and reduce water leaks by more than 60% and reduce electricity consumption by more than 15%.
This project represents a marked departure from the previous system, in which the tariff for thermal energy was set on the basis of a square meter of heated area. Within the framework of the new billing system, billing is moving from accounting for the area to the actual consumption of heat energy.
It is planned that by 2032 the whole of Tashkent will use an upgraded heating system.
