TURKMENISTAN: HIGH TURNOUT AT INTERNATIONAL ENERGY

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001104 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN; E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: HIGH TURNOUT AT INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONFERENCE ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY. The August 21-23 International Exhibit and Scientific Conference entitled "The Main Growth Trends of the Power Energy of Turkmenistan" was devoted to electrification and capacity of Turkmenistan's power stations. The conference seemed to demonstrate the government's serious commitment to modernizing its energy sector, but there was no discussion about the strategic nature of Turkmenistan's energy resources. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (SBU) The International Exhibit and Scientific Conference entitled "The Main Growth Trends of the Power Energy of Turkmenistan" is being held August 21-23. Sponsored by the Ministry of Energy, the conference brought speakers from a variety of international and domestic companies to talk about new products and technologies as well as the future of Turkmen energy. ¶4. (SBU) The first day was the formal opening. The second day's topic was electrification and the capacity of Turkmenistan's power stations. International supply and service companies, mostly from CIS countries (such as Ukraine and Kazakhstan) gave presentations on improved circuit breakers, power cables, etc. Areva T&D, a Western multinational, gave presentations on the potential for wind and nuclear power. While there was no outright criticism of Turkmenistan's energy sector, several participants mentioned the lack of service centers for repairing turbines and pumps, despite several years of requesting these centers. ¶5. (SBU) The conference was well attended with several hundred participants. In a departure from previous similar conferences, groups of students were not brought in for the sake of filling seats. While there were pockets of students in the audience, the conference hall was not at maximum capacity and did not seem artificially filled up. All speakers were male, except for one Turkmen woman who only gave a standard speech praising the President's accomplishments. The conference hall was held on the top floor of Ashgabat's Exhibition Center while the bottom floor had exhibition booths from various energy-related companies like GE and TurkmenEnergo. After the conference, international visitors were offered the chance to do a cultural tour of the city. ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT. The effort put into the conference suggests that Turkmenistan is serious about modernizing its energy sector. There was no discussion about the strategic nature of Turkmenistan's energy resources, however. END COMMENT. CURRAN