DUSHANBE, December 21, Asia-Plus — A progress of construction of the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power station (HPS) and schedule of introduction of its units into operation were focus of a December 19 meeting presided over by visiting official of Russia’s Unified Energy Systems (RAO YeES) Andrei Rappoport, the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI) .
The meeting with participation of senior representatives from a MoEI and top managers of open joint-stock company (OJSC) Sangtuda-1 HPS, as well as senior representatives of other companies, involved in the construction of station, was held on the site of the Sangtuda-1 HPS. The meeting participants discussed a schedule of launch of the stations’ units, the source said.
The schedule should be coordinated by the sides and after that the exact date of introduction of the first of four units of YeES-built sangtuda-1 station into operation will be fixed.
In the meantime, Andrei Rappoport who was on a three-day working visit to Tajikistan left for Moscow yesterday evening. No one of relevant bodies has given any information about how the YeES official assessed the progress of the construction work and how he clarified the reason for the delay in introduction of the unit into operation, and the exact date of introduction of the first unit into operation was not announced.
As it had been reported earlier, Andrei Rappoport arrived in Dushanbe for a working visit on December 18. During his stay in Tajikistan, he visited the site of the Sangtuda-1 power plant to get acquainted with the progress of construction of the plant. He held a number of meetings on the site to discuss issues related to the launch of the station’s units.
We will recall that Barqi Tojik (Tajik electric systems) power holding said on December 18 that introduction of the first of four units of Sangtuda-1 into operation, scheduled or December 21, was delayed until the end of the month or early January 2008, due some technical problems.
We will recall that Russia’s Unified Energy Systems (RAO YeES) has spent approximately $500 million to build Sangtuda-1, and the Russian entity retains a 75 percent share in the power plant, which will generate a projected 2.7 billion kWh of electricity per annum. The power station will have an estimated capacity of 670 MW – enough to meet Tajikistan’s domestic needs and allow for the export of electricity, namely to Afghanistan.
