DUSHANBE, May 18, 2011, Asia-Plus — Tajik MP Shodi Shabdolov, who is member of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower house of parliament) Committee on Energy, Industry and Construction, considers that the Roghun hydroelectricity project will pass any assessment study, “if it is unbiased of course.”
According to him, the project is absolutely safe and there is no necessity to make any changes to it. “It is just necessary to use new technical solutions with due regard to international technological achievements in the filed of hydropower construction,” said Tajik MP, “The project had been worked out in Soviet times with a very high level of safety.”
Shabdolov considers that concerns of neighboring countries that the Roghun project will allegedly severely reduce the amount of water flowing into them are absolutely unfounded. “Allegations about water shortages and environmental catastrophe are a kind of form of influence of the downstream countries,” said he. “It is foolish to consider that after construction of the dam we will shut off water for several years in order to fill the reservoir, because the cascade of hydropower plants on the Vakhsh River, including the Norak hydroelectric power plant (HPP) generating some 70 percent of Tajik electrical power, will stop in this case.”
In his opinion, actually, there is a struggle on for key positions in Central Asia’s energy market as well as Afghan and Pakistani markets.
“Our neighbors use heat power plants to generate electrical power and electricity generated by heat power plants costs three times as much as electricity generated by hydropower plants does,” said MP, “They realize that if Tajikistan builds such a powerful hydropower it will play the key role in the regional energy market. That is why they oppose the construction of the Roghun HPP in every possible way.”
