DUSHANBE, August 2, 2010, Asia-Plus — Construction of a power transmission line from the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP) to the Afghan border is expected to be completed in early September this year, according to Barqi Tojik power holding (Tajik electricity supplier).
The source at Barqi Tojik told Asia-Plus Monday afternoon that under the schedule the construction of a Tajik part of the Sangtuda-Puli Khumri power transmission line (the Tajikistan-Afghanistan 220 kV interconnection project) must be completed by Tajikistan’s Independence Day, which is marked on September 9.
We will recall that the Tajik side was expected to complete its part of the Tajikistan-Afghanistan 220 kV interconnection project in May this year but because of the rail problems (freight cars loaded with building materials for the power grid were being held up in Uzbekistan) the completion of the construction of the power transmission line on Tajik territory was delayed.
“The rail problems have been solved and freight cars carrying our cargo have arrived in Tajikistan. All 416 pylons have already been installed on Tajik territory,” said the source, “In Afghanistan, the construction work is still being carried out at the Kunduz substation and they have installed 20 pylons and laid foundations of 110 other pylons to this day. According to information we received from Afghanistan’s Ministry of Energy and Water, the construction of power transmission line on Afghan territory will be completed at the end of this year.”
A total cost of the Tajikistan-Afghanistan 220 kV interconnection project is 56.5 million U.S. dollars and it is financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, and the governments of Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
On the territory of Tajikistan, the line starts in the Sanguda-1 hydroelectric plant and ends on the Tajik-Afghan border. The 220 kV Tajikistan-Afghanistan power transition line is 280 kilometers long, and 118 kilometers of it lies on Tajik territory and 162 kilometers on Afghan territory.
