DUSHANBE, January 23, 2010, Asia-Plus — Minister of Energy and Industries Gul Sherali told reporters on January 22 that an exact date of blocking the Vakhsh River for beginning of the work on construction of the Roghun dam is still unknown.
According to him, a special government commission will assign the day for blocking the river.
At present, no new facilities are being built at the site for the Roghun HPP; builders are currently completing facilities that had not been finished in the Soviet time, said the minister.
They are currently working in two spillway tunnels, and construction of outdoor switchgear will begin in the near future.
He added that specialists were currently examining two units that had been delivered to the country for Roghun in the Soviet time already. We have two units to introduce the first line of the station into operation but it is necessary to change some parts.
He noted that more than 6,000 people and more than 700 machineries were currently working at the Roghun site.
We will recall that administration of open joint-stock company (OJSC) NBO Roghun said last month that blocking the Vakhsh River is scheduled for late January 2010 when water levels in the river decrease.
In 2009, the government allocated 533 million somoni for the Roghun hydroelectricity project and Tajikistan”s national budget for 2010 earmarks 650 million somoni for this project.
Tajikistan in August 2007 formally revoked a contract with Russia”s aluminum company, RusAl, for the construction of the Roghun HPP. The Tajik government accused the company of failing to fulfill the contract signed in 2004. Tajik authorities and RusAl became bogged down in the hydroelectric plant”s dam model and height, crucial factors in its capacity. In April 2008, Tajikistan founded open joint-stock company with an authorized capital of 116 million somoni for completing the construction of the Roghun station.
The 3,600 MWt Roghun HPP is to generate 13 billion kWh of electricity per year. The plant”s completion would substantially increase sales of electricity to neighboring Afghanistan, China, and Pakistan.
