DUSHANBE, December 1, 2009, Asia-Plus — According to open joint-stock company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya ES-1, which runs the Russian-built Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP), only one of four units of the Sangtuda-1 station will operate beginning on December 2, 2009.
According to the source, only two units have been kept operational since last month. “They are currently generating 5.4 million kWh of electricity per day and after shutdown of one of them, the station will generate only 2.7 million kWh of electricity per day,” said he, “Two other units of the station are still under the planned maintenance services and the third one will be shut down for maintenance services tomorrow.”
We will recall that the Sangtudinskaya GES-1 administration on November 13 sent an official letter to Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov, warning of possible interruption in generation of electricity by the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric plant (HPP) as of December 1 due to 28.3 million somoni in arrears that Barqi Tojik power holding owes to Sangtudinskaya GES-1.
“Taking into account the hard power supply situation in Tajikistan, we have decided not to stop the station but to reduce generation of electricity,” the source noted.
On the Barqi Tojik’s debts, he said that as of November 30, 2009, Barqi Tojik owed 41.4 million somoni to Sangtudinskaya GES-1. “They have remitted to our bank account only 5 million somoni so far and promised to remit another 5 million somoni in the near future; however, we need the whole amount,” the source said.
The construction of the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant located some 110 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe began in the late 1980s. By the early 1990s, only 20% of the construction work had been completed, and further construction was suspended due to a civil war that broke out in Tajikistan in the early 1990s. The talks between Russia and Tajikistan on completing the construction of the Sangtuda-1 HPP began in 2003 and in 2004 the parties signed an inter-governmental agreement.
An official ceremony of introduction of the last fourth unit of the Santuda-1 station into operation was held in late July this year. The Sangtuda-1 HPP has an estimated capacity of 670 MW. Russia retains a 75 percent share in the power plant, which is capable to generate 2.7 billion kWh of electricity per annum.
