QURGHON TEPPA, KHUJAND, January 21, Asia-Plus — The launch of the first of four units of the Sangtuda-1 has not yet had beneficial effect on electricity supplies in the provinces, which are receiving electricity only for a few hours during the early mornings and evenings.
Moreover, the supply of daily electricity in the Khatlon province has been reduced even more. According to the Khatlon branch of Barqi Tojik (Tajik electric systems), residential consumers in Khatlon now receive electricity only 2.5 hours per day – 1.5 hours of electricity in the morning and one hour in the evening.
According to specialists from the Barqi Tojik branch in Khatlon, the reduction has resulted from a decline in the water level in the reservoir that powers the Norak hydroelectric power station (HPS).
The source at Southern Electric Systems, which distributes electrical power to the Khatlon province, told Asia-Plus on Monday that because of low water inflow in the Vakhsh River reserves of water in the Norak reservoir are enough for only ten days of operation of the station and “after that, the station may be suspended from operation.”
Headquarters of Barqi Tojik in Dushanbe refrained from giving comments on this subject.
Towns and villages in northern Tajikistan are also continuing to experience severe seasonal power shortages.
On Sunday, the Sughd province received little more than 5 million kWh of electricity instead of the planned 7-8 million kWh. Local specialists attribute this to a sharp reduction in supply of electricity from Uzbekistan.
In the near future, the electricity supply situation may worsen even more because unusual cold weather has led to a higher demand for power in Uzbekistan itself.
