DUSHANBE, February 7, 2014, Asia-Plus — A working commission of Barqi Tojik (the state-controlled utility responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Tajikistan ) has reportedly revealed shortcomings in work of Indian companies that were engaged in modernization of the Varzob-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP).
“Therefore, a full acceptance of the work carried out by Indian companies has been postponed for uncertain period,” a source at Barqi Tojik told Asia-Plus in an interview. The source refrained from giving further details and naming the shortcomings that had been revealed.
We will recall that two Indian companies — Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and the National Power Corporation (NHPC) – have been engaged in rehabilitation and modernization of the Varzob-1 HPP and the Indian Government has awarded a US$17 million grant for implementation of the project.
The Varzob HPP-1 provides electricity and drinking water to the Varzob district. The system of the Varzob HPPs consists of three power stations. The largest is the HPP-2 with the capacity of 14.76 megawatts and the capacity of the HPP-3 is 3.52 megawatts. The Varzob-1 HPP was the first hydroelectric power plant commissioned in Soviet Tajikistan in 1936.
