Kazakhstan to introduce domestic gas allowances

ASTANA. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan plans to introduce domestic gas allowances for the households as part of the Energy Efficiency and Gas Consumption Plan for 2023-2025, which is yet to be approved, a draft government resolution published in the Open Online Legal Database said.

The document was developed by the Ministry of Energy and will be open for public discussion until August 21.

The draft Energy Efficiency Plan says that the upcoming autumn-winter period of 2023-2024 is at risk due to an increasing consumption of natural gas. The existing resources will be insufficient, and the republic will have to import natural gas in order to make up the shortage. A dependence on gas imports in the future may undermine the reliability of the operation of strategic assets.

The regulation of gas demand could be an alternative approach to deal with the situation, according to the Kazakh government.

"As an alternative, it is necessary to introduce a demand management mechanism, which would allow the country to save up to 2.5 bcm of commercial gas. This approach will not have a negative impact on the economy of Kazakhstan and will enable a transition to rational and economical gas consumption," the document says.

The measures proposed to save gas include "the introduction of commercial gas consumption allowances for households in each region individually, taking climatic conditions into account."

The Energy Efficiency Plan also provides for the creation of a centralized gas metering system and the reduction of gas losses in the pipeline system.

The authors of the document refer to the best energy saving practices in place in Uzbekistan and the European Union, including gas consumption allowances and differentiated tariffs; the optimization of the standard temperature in the heating system, which follows the example of the European Union; the use of reserve fuel (coal) and other best practices.

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in the parliament on March 29, 2023 that the republic should introduce differentiated gas tariffs as the existing gas tariffs in Kazakhstan are the lowest compared to neighboring countries, which adversely affects the economy of the republic.