AKIPRESS.COM - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) held a Technical Working Group meeting on March 4 in Tashkent, as part of the Central Asian Regional Electricity Market (CAREM) project to promote the region’s long-term energy security and economic growth.

This first meeting of the Technical Working Group examined the current conditions of regional and national transmission system infrastructures. Ministries of Energy of Central Asian countries and power system operators nominated the members of the technical, legal, and regulatory and market working groups to develop an enhanced regional electricity market in the region.

Participants discussed the technical standards for national transmission, regulations and IT, principles of power systems integrated operation and the existing agreements among the Transmission System Operators. USAID presented best practices on congestion management and transmission capacity allocation and provided an overview of other technical issues to be addressed to ensure the successful operation of CAREM.

USAID-facilitated working groups will commission a study to identify limitations and provide recommendations on electricity modernization in the region as the next steps of CAREM implementation. The working group also plans to conduct power systems studies to improve the reliability of transmission networks and determine transmission capacities to accommodate larger volumes of cross-border power exchanges.