DUSHANBE, May 28, 2009, Asia-Plus — Information that construction of the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power station (HPP) has been suspended allegedly because of delays in payment of Barqi Tojik’s electricity debts does not correspondent to the facts, Nozir Yodgori, a spokesman for Barqi Tojik (Tajik electric systems) power holding, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, funds for construction of the station are allocated from other sources and do not depend on power supply payments. “The funds for construction the statement are allocated by the governments of Tajikistan and Russia,” Yodgori said.
The Barqi Tojik spokesman is sure that Sangtudinskaya GES-1 should seek other reasons and arguments for suspension of the construction work. “The Tajik side is taking efforts to repay its debt for electricity received from the Sangtuda-1 station,” said he. “The government is currently negotiating with financial institutions the provision of preferential loan for repaying that debt.”
We will recall that OJSC Sangtudinskaya GES-1, which has built the Sangtuda-1 plant, on May 26 announced that construction of the Sangtuda-1 HPP)has been suspended due to financing problems that has resulted from delays in payment of Tajik power holding’s debts for electricity generated by the Sangtuda-1. The source at Sangtudinskaya GES-1 said Barqi Tojik now owes more than 18 million U.S. dollars in arrears to Sangtudinskaya GES-1. “The company does not have funds to purchase fuels,” the source said, noting that lack of fuels has paralyzed all the transportation fleet of Sangtudinskaya GES-1. He added that the Sangtudinskaya GES-1 administration on May 26 informed Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov of the situation that had emerged at the station site.
The last fourth unit of the Russian-built hydroelectric power plant (HPP) Sangtuda-1 on the Vakhsh River was introduced into operation on May 15. However, this does not mean the full completion of construction of the station. The full completion of this turnkey project also includes creation of necessary infrastructure – improvement of the territory, reservoir and town for power engineering specialists. The station is expected to begin working in full capacity starting from August this year, when water levels at the reservoir powering the Sangtuda-1 stations will reach the rated level.
The construction of the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant located some 120 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe began in the late 1980s. By the early 1990s, only 20% of the construction work had been completed, and further construction was suspended due to a civil war that broke out in Tajikistan in the early 1990s. The talks between Russia and Tajikistan on completing the construction of the Sangtuda-1 HPP began in 2003 and in 2004 the parties signed an inter-governmental agreement.
Russia 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.
