Turkmenistan

Country Profile

(.pdf file - 181 kB)

Overview

Policy and Incentives

Wind

Biomass

Solar

Geothermal

Hydroelectric

Links

References

Country Contacts

Apart from the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan has the largest proven reserves of any of the former Soviet republics. Turkmenistan’s total gas resources have been evaluated at 22.9 trillion m³. Many gas fields have been discovered in the west of the republic, near the Caspian Sea, but the most significant resources have been located in the Amu-Daria Basin, in the east.

Gas deposits were first discovered in 1951 and by 1980 production reached 70 bcm/year. Production continued to rise throughout the 1980's, but by 1992 a serious contraction of the republic's export markets had set in and output fell sharply. Natural gas output recovered in 1999, with sizeable exports to Ukraine and Iran being achieved.  In the oil and gas industry Turkmenistan is waiting for someone outside the country to assist them in the development of their fields.

Turkmenistan
Country Summary Table

Turkmenistan Evolution of Electricity Generation by Fuel from 1992 to 2002

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The main efforts in Turkmenistan will be focused on greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures in the energy sector. In the energy and power production sector the following measures are determined:

·          Increase of efficiency of fuel utilization at power plants by means of modernization of fossil combustion systems.

·          Increase of natural gas share in the energy balance.

·          Increase of renewable non-fossil sources of energy in the energy balance.

In electric and heat energy consumption sector the following priority measures were determined:

·          To increase the energy efficiency in municipal services and in industry, modernization of heating systems.

·          To carry out measures on energy saving in the residential sector and industry.

·          The Law of Turkmenistan on Energy Saving is at the stage of preparation at present. This law declaratively covers all the aspects of energy saving in both energy production and consumption sectors. The law defines the framework for governing the energy saving policies at the national level. One of priority measures on GHG emission reduction in the energy production and consumption sector is to design enabling mechanisms to implement the Law on Energy Saving.

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Turkmenistan is characterized by high wind potential, though there is currently no operational wind energy capacity in the country. A country-wide wind atlas is available for Turkmenistan, and indicates wind speeds of 4-5 m/s at 30 m height in three areas and one area with wind speeds of 5-6 m/s at 30 m. The wind resource distribution is dependent on the topography of the country, with the highest potential near the Caspian sea. The large desert zone also has high wind energy potential. In total, wind energy potential is suitable for power utilization on more than 40 percent of the territory. Turkmenistan has one of the highest wind energy resource potentials in this region.

The most promising areas for wind energy development are Kara Bogaz Gol Bay coastal zone. Krasnovodsk plateau and a strip of the Caspian Sea coast almost to the boundary with Iran, the region of the Kara Kum desert and headwaters of the Murghab river on the Kara Bil Hills near the Afghanistan border.

Specialists in the development of solar and wind resources for energy and water supply in desert regions of Turkmenistan state that the potential for RES in the region is very high. However, Turkmenistan possesses huge natural gas reserves and one of the lowest electricity prices world wide which hampers the development of renewable energy technologies.

Wind atlas of Turkmenistan

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In Turkmenistan the wastes from livestock breeding are used for fertilizer. The references of information don’t contain the data on projects realized for using biomass for energy purposes.

Turkmenistan Biomass Resource Data

Biomass resource type	Total production	Production density
Percent of total land area covered by
Forests	0%
Shrublands, savanna, and grasslands	62%
Cropland and crop/natural vegetation mosaic	8%
Urban and built-up areas	0%
Sparse or barren vegetation; snow and ice	29%
Wetlands and water bodies	1%
Primary crop production, tonne	(avg. 1999-2001, tonne)	(tonne /1000 Ha)
Total primary crops (rank among COO)	7,280,347  (20)	155  (27)
Top 10 primary crops
Mixed Grasses, Legumes	2,333,333	50
Seed Cotton	1,376,667	29
Wheat	1,285,267	27
Grasses (misc), Forage & Silage	831,667	18
Maize for Forage & Silage	468,333	10
Watermelons	239,667	5
Vegetables and Roots, Fodder	149,333	3
Tomatoes	146,333	3
Grapes	140,000	3
Onions, Dry	50,233	1
Animal units, number	(number)	(number / 1000 Ha)
Cattle	865,000	18
Poultry	4,150,000	88
Pigs	47,000	1
Equivalent animal units	925,300	20
Annual roundwood production	(1996-98, 000 m3)	(m3 / Ha)
Total	NA	NA
Fuel	NA	NA
Industrial	NA	NA
Wood-based panels	NA	NA
	(1996-98, 000 metric tons)	(metric tons / Ha)
Paper and paperboard	NA	NA
Recovered paper	NA	NA

According to official statistics the area of forests in Turkmenistan constitutes 19,761 km², corresponding to to 0.04 percent of Republic territory. 95 percent of this forested territory is occupied by saxaul (tree native to Central Asia). At present the decree of Republic government forbids the cutting of forests.

All thermal power plants in Republic are operating with natural gas. The housing, public utilities, and the rural populated settlements are fully gasified, and the natural gas is practically free of charge for population.

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At present solar power engineering has no development in Turkmenistan.

The climatic conditions in Turkmenistan are extremely favorable for using solar energy. The solar energy resource potential is very high in Republic and is characterized by the data presented in the tables below for three are of Turkmenistan, Gasan-Kuli, Ashkhabad (the capital) and Chardzhou. The first area is located at Southwest of the country, the second in the South of Central part and the third in the East near the border with Uzbekistan.

Monthly and annual total solar radiation incident on horizontal surface, MJ/m²