DUSHANBE, January 17, 2009, Asia-Plus — Construction of the dam for the hydroelectric power station (HPS) Roghun is expected to begin in late 2009 and the first two units of the station are supposed to be introduced into operation in three or four years, according to presidential press service.
150 million US dollars are earmarked this year for construction of the Roghun HPS, while last year, 50 million dolalrs were provided for the Roghun hydroelectricity project.
More than 3,000 workers currently work at the site for construction of the Roghun station. To ensure regular work at the site they have stocked fuels for two years, the press service said. Besides, foreign companies such as BelAZ, Hyundai and Caterpillar (world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment), whose heavy trucks and equipment are sued for construction of the station, have opened their centers in Tajikistan that allows maintaining the trucks and equipment and promptly removing any possible equipment damage.
To speed up the construction work Tajikistan has purchased 24 units of up-to-date equipment and 100 heavy trucks BelAZ. Besides, 40 heavy trucks MAZ, 20 movable concrete mixers, 100 bulldozers, 10 truck cranes and other equipment are used at the Roghun station site.
We will recall that Tajikistan has long sought an investor to complete the Roghun dam on the Vakhsh River, some 120 kilometers east of the capital, Dushanbe. Construction was interrupted by the 1992-97 civil war.
The 3,600 MWt Roghun hydroelectric plant is to generate 13 billion kWh of electrical power per year. The plant”s completion would substantially increase sales of electricity to neighboring China, as well as to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
