DUSHANBE, May 26, 2011, Asia-Plus — More than 40 officials and experts on water energy discussed on May 24 better utilization of hydropower as a step forward in economic development during a seminar in Dushanbe supported by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan and the Tajik-Norwegian Small-scale Hydro Power Initiative (SHP).
According to the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, the participants reviewed recommendations drafted by the Inter-ministerial Working Group on the Development of Small Hydro Power at previous technical roundtable meetings, and identified priorities and matters to be addressed for the forthcoming sessions.
This is the third seminar organized on the Inter-ministerial Working Group in the framework of the SHP Initiative. The seminar specifically focuses on the analysis and review of the procedures of connection to the grid and current tariff policy, including approved tariff components in Tajikistan, existing preferential tariffs and compensations and present conditions for connection of small hydropower stations to the grid and to power transmission lines.
“The development of the small energy sector mostly depends on investments. It is necessary to facilitate the existing investment procedures, by drawing a road map for the investor and by presenting a list of potential sites for the construction of small hydropower plants on the Internet in order to attract investors,” says Nourmuhammad Kholnazarov, Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Working Group.
“The activities of the Inter-ministerial Working Group, working with assistance from the Norwegian Initiative and from the OSCE Office, are a productive contribution to addressing the challenges of hydropower development in Tajikistan, through the preparation of a comprehensive action plan,” says Emmanuel Huntzinger, Economic Officer of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.
The Small-scale Hydropower Initiative was established on April 27, 2010 by a bilateral memorandum of understanding between the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway and the Ministry of Energy and Industries of Tajikistan.
The enhancement of Tajikistan’s energy security, including in the water-energy nexus, is one of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan’s mandated activities. The Office supports this initiative by providing a platform for dialogue and expert assistance.
