DUSHANBE, October 4, 2011, Asia-Plus — Tajik energy authorities have begun to cut off electricity supply to some regions at night.
Barqi Tojik power holding (the state-owned utility responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Tajikistan) says these measures are taken to save water at the reservoir powering the Norak hydroelectric power plant (HPP).
Nozirjon Yodgori, a spokesman for Barqi Tojik, says these electricity supply cutoffs do not mean the introduction of electricity rationing in the country. “Electricity supply is cut off only to areas where there are no strategic facilities,” he told Asia-Plus in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
According to Yodgori, current water inflow rate in the Vakhsh River is 440-420 cubic meters per second, while the water inflow rate of 600-650 cubic meters per second is needed for operation of the Norak HPP without use of water from the reservoir.
“A 10 cubic meter decline in the water inflow rate may lead to decrease in the daily electricity generation by 750 kWh,” noted the spokesman. “We have already begun to use water from the Norak reservoir, while last year, we began to use water from the Norak reservoir on October 27.”
Tajikistan’s power plants now generate a total of 36 million kWh of electrical power per day, Yodgori added.
Measures rationing electricity supplies are usually introduced in all regions except Dushanbe and seek to curb the country”s rising electricity consumption. The rationing is introduced in October or November and lasts through April next year. The rationing results in the supply of daily electrical power being reduced to 12 or 10 hours. In addition to curbing rising consumption, the move also stems from a decline in the water level in the country”s reservoirs powering the main hydroelectric power plants.
