The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is financing ‘smart’ electricity meters for Uzbekistan to help the energy-intensive Central Asian nation use its power resources more efficiently. The ADB Board of Directors has approved a loan of $150m for the Advanced Electricity Metering Project. It will fund the installation of modern, accurate, theft-proof digital meters for one million residential and small commercial power users in the cities of Bukhara, Jizzakh and Samarkand. The meters will operate using an automated management system that will allow the utility company to reduce power losses and increase revenues.
Uzbekistan has one of the highest electricity consumption per gross domestic product in the world but it suffers from heavy transmission and distribution losses, with state-owned power utility, Uzbekenergo, estimating total losses of around 20%, nearly four times the levels seen in advanced countries. Most electricity meters are old, unreliable, and easy to tamper with.