DUSHANBE, August 31, 2012, Asia-Plus — “Neither state-run nor private companies of Iran have participated in construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in Tajikistan,” Abbas Bayani, the Counselor for Economic Affairs, Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe told Asia-Plus in an interview Friday afternoon.
“There are no any agreements between our countries on supplying equipment and building materials for construction of this facility,” Mr. Bayani said, noting that the Tajik authorities have never applied to Iran for assistance with construction of the Roghun dam.
“To-date, Iran has participated in construction of only one hydropower facility in Tajikistan – Sangtuda-2 HPP,” noted Iranian diplomat. “The second unit of the Sangtuda-2 power plant is expected to be introduced into operation by the end of this year.”
Because of Tajik rail problems (Uzbekistan’s halting of Tajikistan-bound freight cars), equipment and building materials for Sangtuda-2 station are currently being shipped to Tajikistan from Iran and China by air, he added.
We will recall that the Uzbek news agency,
Harakat
, reported recently that foreign carriers have allegedly been delivering building materials for the Roghun HPP to Tajikistan from Iran.
The construction of Roghun HPP was begun in 1980 during the Soviet Union, but stalled in the 1990s for lack of funds. Currently most of the site preparation works about 70% of the underground works (access tunnels, penstocks, diversion and outlet tunnels, chambers for turbines/generators and transformers) have reportedly been completed.
The Roghun HPP would have a reservoir with multi-year regulation mode with a dam height of 335 m, located on the Vaksh River. The reservoir would have a total storage volume of 13 km3; a live storage of 8.6 km3, and would likely extend upstream over a distance of about 70 km. The installed capacity is proposed to be 6×600 MW (totaling 3,600 MW) and the annual power generation would be 13,300 GWh. Despite significant storage, the Roghun HPP was expected to produce electricity in Tajikistan and develop irrigation in the region. The majority of the electricity to be produced by Roghun HPP is expected to be exported.
Uzbekistan opposes the construction of the Roghun dam, arguing that it will have negative environmental consequences for the region. The Uzbek authorities claim that if Tajikistan goes on to complete Roghun as planned, it would leave Uzbekistan facing water shortages for eight years until Roghun dam filled with water.
