DUSHANBE, January 18, Asia-Plus – On Wednesday January 17, Sharifkhon Samiyev, head of Barqi Tojik (Tajik electric systems) power holding, and Chin Fan Jisyan (phonetically spelled), president of China’s Sinohydro (water conservancy and hydropower industry company) inked in Beijing an agreement on the construction of the Zarafshon (formerly known as Yavan) hydroelectric power station (HPS) on the Zarafshon River in northern Tajikistan, according to Barqi Tojik.
Rashid Gulov, deputy engineer-in-chief with Barqi Tojik, said in an interview with Asia-Plus that under the agreement the Chinese side will provide a preferential loan of $200 million for implementing this project. According to him, the loan carries a 25-year term and an interest rate of 1 percent per annum.
Sinohydro plans to construct the plant in 36 months. The project also includes the construction of a 220-kilovolt 60-kilometer power-transmission line from the HPS to sub-station Rudaki in the city of Panjakent for providing regular electricity supplies to the city.
Gulov said that according to feasibility study conducted by Chinese experts for the Zarafshon HPS, the station will have capacity of 150 megawatt and be able to annually generate some 600 million kWh of electricity. “It will allow supplying electricity to the Panjakent district regularly,» the Barqi Tojik official noted.
Tajikistan offered the Chinese side to participate in the construction of the Zarafshon plant during negotiations in Beijing last June, and China Sinohydro Corp expressed wish to participate in this project.
The project for construction of the Zarafshon plant was worked out in the Eighties already.
