DUSHNBE, September 14, Asia-Plus – On Saturday September 16, visiting China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmonov and Energy Minister Abdullo Yorov will take part at a ceremony of an official commencement of the construction of a power-transmission line “South-North”. According to information from the Ministry of Energy, the ceremony will be held in the Chorbogh area in Varzob.
We will recall that in April this year, Tajik “Barqi Tojik” (Tajik electric system) state power holding and Chinese power company “China Theban Electric Apparatus Stock Co (CTEAS) signed in Dushanbe two contracts on the construction of high-voltage electricity transmission lines in Tajikistan. The sides agreed to build a 500-kW 350-kilometer electricity transmission line “South-North” linking Tajikistan”s southern and northern regions and a 220-kW 93-kilometer line “Lolazor-Obi Mazor” in the Khatlon province. The projects are worth $281 million and $59 million, respectively.
The “South-North” electric main will be capable to transmit up to 8 billion kWh of electricity a year, and the capacity of the power-transmission line “Lolazor-Obi Mazor” in southern Tajikistan will be some 4 billion kWh of electricity a year.
The total budget for these projects is US$340 million. Of this amount, US$300 million have been provided by China’s Exim Bank in loans. The Exim Bank loan carries an annual interest rate of 2 percent. The share of Tajikistan in the budget for these two projects amounts to US$40 million.
