Over the first nine months of this year, Tajikistan has produced more than 1.114 million tons of coal, which was 72,000 tons more than in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Energy and New Technologies (MoINT).
An official source at a MoINT says Tajikistan is currently producing up to 8,000 tons of coal per day.
According to him, Tajikistan now meets about 88 percent of its current requirements in coal due to domestic coal production.
In all, Tajikistan intends to produce 1.8 million tons of coal this year, the source added.
Last year, Tajikistan reportedly produced more than one million tons of coal, which was 130,000 tons more than in 2014.
Coal production has reportedly increased due to a shift in the country’s industrial enterprises from more expensive natural gas and electricity to more economical coal for heating and other needs.
Since 2007, more than more than 160 industrial enterprises in Tajikistan have been shifted to coal, the source said. More than 200 coal-fired enterprises now operate in Tajikistan.
The Dushanbe-2 combined heat and power (CHP) plant is the main consumer of Tajik coal. It reportedly consumes nearly 50 percent of the country’s coal.
Nineteen coal-producing enterprises now operate in Tajikistan. Fon-Yaghnob Mine, TALCO Resource Ltd, Industrial Enterprise Ziddi, and Open Joint-Stock Company (Angisht) are Tajikistan’s largest coal-producing enterprises.
The ban on coal exports was introduced in Tajikistan on March 1, 2013, the source added. A coal law, which is intended to promote attraction of funds in development of Tajikistan’s coal mining sector, was adopted in 2012.
