Kyrgyzstan plans to promote wind energy

Kyrgyzstan is set to implement pathbreaking financial policies to promote development of wind energy sector in the country. Renewable energy has, so far, seen minimal development in Kyrgyzstan which generated most of its electricity from large hydro power projects. But now, the government is planning to offer significant tax incentives to project developers who look to set up wind energy projects. 

According to media reports, the Kyrgyzstan government has proposed slew of tax incentives for the wind energy sector. As per the proposal of the parliament, income from wind energy projects shall be exempted from any tax for 8 years. Additionally, equipment imported from outside the country would be exempted from value-added tax.

These, and several other proposals, are expected to be approved by the Kyrgyz parliament over the next few weeks.

While the government has not announced the planned capacity addition, it plans to set up 3 wind energy projects with the first expected to come up near the lake of Issyk-Kul.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the country had an installed power generation capacity of 3,680 MW in 2012, of which only 1% (or 41 MW) was based on renewable energy technologies.

Among all renewable energy technologies, solar power has the largest potential in Kyrgyzstan. Solar power has an estimated technical potential of 267 GW while wind energy and small-hydro power have potential of 1,500 MW and 1,800 MW, respectively.