On August 2, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the presentation of the Tashkent city heat supply system modernization project, the presidential press service state said.
9165 multi-storey buildings, 3475 social facilities are connected to centralized heating In the capital. However, 72% of the main and distribution networks, all central boiler houses and 90% of local boiler houses are worn out.
This leads to higher costs and lower quality of service, the statement added. For example, last year, heat losses reached 44%, which in monetary terms amounted to 630 billion soums (US$ 60 million). Over-consumed 460 million cubic meters of natural gas, 55 million cubic meters of drinking water and 154 million kilowatts of electricity.
As a result, the state unitary enterprise "Toshissikkuvati" has a high accounts payable - 2 trillion soums (US$ 190 million). In addition, the company ended the year 2020 with a loss of 869 billion soums (revenues - 650 billion soums, expenses - 1.51 trillion soums). In 2016-2020, Toshissikkuvati received subsidies from the state worth of US$ 228 million.
The poor quality of heat supply causes serious complaints from the population, the report says.
The Tashkent city has prepared a concept for the project and announced a call for bids for its implementation. According to the conclusion of the Asian Development Bank, the project of the French company Veolia, which has experience in managing heat supply systems in the cities of Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania and Germany, was recognized as the most effective, it was noted during the presentation.
The signing of an agreement on public-private partnership between the mayor’s office and this company is due soon.
The project will be completed in 30 years. Veolia will channel 315 million euros of its own funds and 1 billion 80 million euros from revenues that will be received during the implementation of the project.
Within the framework of the project, it is planned to modernize 181 boiler houses, install 28 thousand heat points, reconstruct 841 km of existing networks and lay 576 km of new networks. In addition, 391 units of special equipment and other equipment will be purchased. The introduction of an international system of technical audit and billing is planned. It is planned to install 1.2 million hot water meters and devices for measuring heat energy in 44.7 thousand houses.
At the presentation, the task was set, first of all, to develop a methodology for the provision of heat supply services based on PPP.
The President noted the need to introduce the proposed project on a pilot basis on one of the blocks of Tashkent, assess its effectiveness and, as a result, make a comprehensively thought-out decision.
Before the hand-over to the management of a foreign company, it is planned to carry out an inventory of the property and buildings belonging to the State Unitary Enterprise "Toshissikkuvati", a technical and energy audit of the heat supply systems of apartment buildings.
He instructed to create a Heat Supply System Development Fund. An amount exceeding 10% of the net profit received under the project will be transferred to this fund.
He also indicated to the need to purchase special equipment, equipment and materials at the most optimal prices by holding an open tender in accordance with the legislation on public procurement.
The importance of organizing, together with Veolia, training courses for domestic specialists was emphasized.
The Deputy Finance Minister Odilbek Isakov said that within 10 years it is planned to transfer all boiler houses in Tashkent to a closed heat supply system.
According to him, within two years, pilot projects will be implemented on the Suvsoz neighborhood in the Bektemir district and on Nilufar street in the Sergeli district.
In January 2020, the South Korean company CM Entech proposed a project to modernize the heat supply system in Tashkent, in particular, the reconstruction of the TC-2 of the Mirzo-Ulugbek district. The cost of the work was estimated at US$ 70-100 million.
