DUSHANBE, April 13, 2010, Asia-Plus — Because of Tajik freight holdup problem the date of introduction of the Iranian-built Sangtuda-2 hydroelectric power plant into operation will be postponed, Mr. Seyyed Askari, the head of the representative office of Iranian company, Sangab, in Tajikistan said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, the freight cars containing equipment for the Sangtuda-2 HPP have been strained on Uzbek territory for already two months. “Therefore, the work on the completion of the construction of the station is behind the schedule,” Mr. Askari said, noting that the station was scheduled to be introduced into operation in February 2012. “Most likely, changes will be made to the agreement between Sangab and the Government of Tajikistan and the date of introduction of the station into operation will be postponed,” said he, “It is unknown how long the freight cars will be held up in Uzbekistan.”
“We have officially appealed both to the Tajik Government and the Iranian Government, asking them to solve the problem via their channels as soon possible; however, it is unknown when our cargos will arrive in Tajikistan.”
In the meantime, Tajik authorities hoped that the first unit of the Sangtuda-2 HPP would be put into operation by the end of this year.
Tajikistan and Iran signed a protocol for Iran to construct a 220MW Sangtuda-2 hydropower station on the Vakhsh River in Dushanbe on January 12, 2005. During President Rahmon’s visit to Iran in January 2006, a number of agreements providing for Iranian assistance for several Tajik infrastructure projects, including construction of the Sangtuda-2 HPP, were signed. The Sangtuda-2 HPP was scheduled to become operational by 2012 but Tajik officials wanted it to be inaugurated sooner than schedule and the construction was expected to finish in 2011, a year ahead of schedule.
The construction of the Sangtuda-2 station officially commenced in February 2006. Iranian company Sangab has been building the Sangtuda-2 dam. Once the power station is built, all the revenue over the next 12.5 years will go to the investor and Tajikistan will become the owner of Sangtuda-2 after this period expires.
We will recall that Iranian Ambassador to Tajikistan Ali-Asghar Sherdoust told reporters in Dushanbe on November 17, 2009 that more than 55 percent of construction works have been fulfilled and once commissioned, generating equipment, manufactured by both Iran and China, will be installed. He said some of the Chinese-built generating equipment had arrived at the Iranian port to Bandar Abbas and would be transported to the station’s building site soon.
