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Kyrgyzstan – a Central Asian country – faces a high degree of energy insecurity. Especially the Kyrgyz power sector suffers from outdated infrastructure and is not capable of fulfilling the growing and fluctuating inter-seasonal energy demand. On the contrary, the country is endowed with an abundant amount of renewable energies, which can significantly contribute to bringing stability to the energy sector. The current energy policy is considered as one of the key barriers to the developing the renewable energy sector in Kyrgyzstan. Hence, there is an immediate need to evaluate the formulated energy policy to investigate gaps and uncertainties. In response to that, the presented study is the first attempt that provides an in-depth assessment of Kyrgyzstan's current energy legislative framework. It determines the primary mechanisms for the operation and conduction of renewable energy sources in terms of legal and economic aspects. Furthermore, it provides detailed insight into the current Feed-in tariff calculation methodology and scrutinizes the special provisions for private investors. Based on the in-depth assessment, the article recapitulates the shortfall in the existing energy policies. The article found that there is huge potential available for the renewable energy market. To unlock that, the presented article emahsised on synergestic policy making approach to overcome barriers and expand the Kyrgyz renewable energy sector. The article further showcased how the improvements in the regulatory framework would raise the interest of the private investors / local energy players to promote the installation of renewable energy technologies over the county.
The present study investigates the viability of implementing a micro-scale district heating system (DHS) powered by solar energy in the elevated rural regions of Kyrgyzstan. The performance assessment of such a system is achieved through modeling and simulation in Polysun software along with a conducted parametric study to find out the optimal volume of the storage tank to the area of the collectors based on the solar fraction.
A parametric study resulted in the possible system configuration with a solar fraction of 19.4%, achieved with 2,000 collectors (4,060 m2) and a 400 m3 storage tank. The follow-up economic evaluation considers total lifecycle costs, comparing the solar-assisted DHS with an electric and a coal boiler as the auxiliary heater, and an individual stove-based system. The DHS with a coal-fired boiler resulted in a slightly lower levelized cost of heat (LCOH) at 10.03 €-ct/kWh compared to the electric boiler at 11.77 €-ct/kWh, while an individual home coal-fired system is 1.13 €-ct/kWh.
However, LCOH-based energy affordability analysis revealed that the proposed DHS would burden typical households, where the man works and the woman manages the household, exceeding income by 74% (with electric boiler) and 48% (with coal-fired boiler).
Therefore, the study underscores the need for careful economic consideration in solar thermal projects, especially in low-income areas. To facilitate successful implementation in such regions, securing subsidies or financial support during the project's implementation stage is essential to maintain the affordability of these systems for the local population.