TASHKENT, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is finalizing an advanced electricity metering project in Uzbekistan to increase energy saving for entities and households, an ADB official said Tuesday.

The 150-million-U.S.dollar pilot project to meter and control electricity consumption in Uzbekistan was launched in 2011, ADB's senior communication specialist Andrew Perrin told reporters here.

Uzbekistan has one of the highest power-consuming country in the world, so "even small increases in energy efficiency have a significant economic impact," said Perrin.

According to official figures, energy losses during transmission and distribution was as much as 20 percent when the project started in 2011, almost four times those in developed countries.

During project implementation, 1 million private and commercial customers received new "smart meters" to replace old ones, which were produced between 1960 and 1990.

"The implementation of the project led to a sharp reduction in electricity losses and an increase in payments from consumers, as well as an increase in revenues for the utility company. The government announced that smart meters will be distributed throughout Uzbekistan," the official said.

According to experts, the annual energy consumption in Uzbekistan is about 52,000 gigawatt hours, and the reduction of energy loss by only 1 percent will save 26 million dollars a year.