DUSHANBE, November 30, 2009, Asia-Plus — A new electricity line connecting the south of Tajikistan with the country’s northern region was launched on November 29.
President Emomali Rahmon and senior representatives from the China Theban Electric Apparatus Stock (TBEA), which built the power grid, participated at the grid-opening ceremony during his visit to the Sughd province, according to presidential press service.
Three 220-kV power transmission line linking a 500-kV power grid, South-North, with Sughd’s power system were introduced into operation last Sunday.
With launching the South-North power grid, Tajikistan created its unified power system. A total length of the South-North power grid that starts in Tursunzoda and ends in Khujand is 386 kilometers, presidential press services said.
The Sughd province has been dependent on the Soviet-era energy supply system that has provided electricity from neighboring Uzbekistan via southern Tajikistan for decades.
According to specialists, the new 500-kiV power line will add significantly to Tajikistan”s energy security. Up to 8.6 billion kWh of electricity are expected to be supplied via the South-North power grid per year.
As it had been reported earlier, electricity generated by Sughd’s Qairoqum hydroelectricity power plant (HPP) is enough to meet only 20 percent of the region’s requirements in electricity.
We will recall that in April 2006, Tajikistan”s national electric power company, Barqi Tojik, signed deals with a Chinese company to build two power transmission lines in Tajikistan. Under the contracts, Barqi Tojik and the China Theban Electric Apparatus Stock (TBEA) have built a 350-kilometer power line, linking the country”s south with the north, and another 95-kilometer line in the Khatlon province. China”s Eximbank has provided 95 percent of the combined US$340 million cost of the projects and the remaining 5 percent has been provided by the Tajik government. The cost of the South-North power grids project is 281.3 million U.S. dollars.
