World Monitor Magazine WM_Energy 2017 | Page 24

Invest to kazakhstan tighter environmental constraints, and the exhausted productivity potential of the existing technology. To overcome these issues the global power industry developed a new innovation development concept: the Smart Grid or intelligent power system. Its key requirements include fast response to emerging power supply problems; affordability of electricity for consumers; and the reliability and quality of electricity supply. The third area is the international integration of electric power systems. Everyone knows the advantages of the interconnected power systems, and each country seeks to create one. The next step in this direction is the establishment of international energy associations. And the power interconnection of CIS and Baltic Countries is one such successful examples. Another example is the international integration in the form of Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE) of the European countries. Of course these projects will face a lot of challenges. The greater is the scale of the integrated power systems, the harder it is to manage such systems. And maintaining the stability of the long distance transmission with an acceptable level of electric power losses is not an easy task. However, the current level of technology development, including DC transmission and intelligent power systems, already make these projects quite feasible. Apparently, in the longer term 22 world monitor we will have to integrate energy systems on a global scale. This will be a natural development of global power industry and such initiatives are already voiced at the international level. These global interconnection projects have not been recognised or approved at the international level; but they are of interest to us, because they suggest the construction of transit power lines through the territory of Kazakhstan, which will attract additional investments, new technologies and utilise the transit and export potential of the country. KEGOC is already considering in its long- term plans the construction of long-range DC transmission lines in Kazakhstan, which can later become part of the global power network. Now, with regard to modernization of the electric power systems in Kazakhstan. As you know, the President of Kazakhstan in his address to the nation in beginning of this year noted as a top priority the acceleration of technological modernization of the country's economy, including using the advanced digital technologies. It is impossible to work effectively in a changing world without changing yourself. We need new approaches and technologies in the areas of generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of electricity. And one such technology is a smart grid technology that I mentioned earlier. The company has been working on it for more than ten years: the National Power Grid uses local microprocessor-based automation system and fiber-optic communication lines. We continue this systematic work, and, taking into account the international experience in building bulk transmission networks, we have identified the priority areas of the technological development of the National Power Grid, including: • Flexible alternating current transmission systems (FACTS); • Automatic frequency and power control system for the Unified Power System of Kazakhstan; • The centralized system of emergency control automatics; • WAMS (Wide Area Measurement System); • WACS (Wide Area Control System); • Upgrade of the existing SCADA/ EMS system. Could you please tell us about the initiative to devise the development areas for the Unified Power System of Kazakhstan and the Integrated Power System of Central Asia within the Coordination Electric Power Council of Central Asia, as well as about the progress of the common electric power market in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states? As the System Operator of the Unified Power System (UPS) of Kazakhstan, KEGOC interacts with the neighbouring power systems to manage and maintain the stability of parallel operation. In accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement