DUSHANBE, November 26, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Withdrawing from the unified Central Asian power grid, Uzbekistan may suffer itself along with Tajikistan, Mirzosharif Islomiddinov, the head of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) Committee on Energy, Industry, and Construction, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, one of main tasks of the unified Central Asian power grid is frequency control of power systems in the Central Asian countries.  “It will become more complex to remove accidents in power transmission lines in the region’s countries without frequency control,” said MP, “Such accidents take place in Uzbek power systems as well, and when Uzbekistan was in the unified Central Asia power grid, other countries of the region, including Tajikistan, were maintaining its power systems.”

Uzbekistan’s decision to pull out of the unified power grid of the region creates another problem for it connected with irrigation of its agricultural lands, he noted.  “Withdrawing from the unified Central Asian power grid, Uzbekistan is forcing Tajikistan to use water from the Norak and Qairoqum reservoirs to produce additional energy due to a deficit of electricity in autumn-winter period,” said Islomiddinov, “The reservoirs are used by Uzbek farmers downstream and Uzbekistan may face serious water shortages.”

MP further added that it could not be ruled out that Uzbek authorities’ decision to withdraw from the unified Central Asian power grid had been caused by non-fulfillment of orders of the grid’s coordination control center, which is based in Tashkent, by the Central Asian countries.