DUSHANBE, September 17, 2010, Asia-Plus – On Thursday September 16, the Government of Tajikistan, represented by Mr. Safarali Najmiddinov, Minister of Finance, and Mr. Abdullo Yorov, Chairman of Barqi Tojik (Tajik electricity supplier), and the Asian Development Bank, represented by Mr. Joji Tokeshi, acting Country Director for ADB’s Resident Mission in Tajikistan, signed a grant agreement for 122 million U.S. dollars in Dushanbe.
The grant is allocated for financing the Regional Power Transmission Project. The project is critical for energy security in Tajikistan. It targets the expansion and modernization of the electricity transmission network and paves the way for much needed reforms. Transmission network modernization is a precondition to cutting system losses, improving energy efficiency, and facilitating energy trade with neighboring countries.
Najmiddinov noted that the project would build two new 220 kV single-circuit transmission lines totaling 140 kilometers and rehabilitate transmission substations.
One of the power transmission lines will be constructed between Qairoqqum and Asht (some 70 kilometers) in Sughd province. The facility will increase energy security in Sughd province.
The other power transmission (approximately 70 kilometers) will be constructed between Geran and Rumi in Khatlon province. The line will improve energy security in southern Tajikistan and support electricity exports to Afghanistan.
The Barqi Tojik top manager Abdullo Yorov noted that the Qairoqqum-Asht power transmission would also supply electricity to one of the strategic facilities of the country – the Koni Mansuri Kalon silver deposit in Asht.
The project will also rehabilitate in whole or part six transmission substations and install a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system linked to a National Dispatch Centre in Dushanbe, and 32 priority substations across the country.
The project will also implement a sector operational performance improvement program targeting Barqi Tojik.
Contribution of Tajikistan to the project amounts to 19 million U.S. dollars.
