DUSHANBE, July 18, 2012, Asia-Plus — More than 5,500 builders of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP) have joined the ranks of the unemployed in Tajikistan after the World Bank has prohibited Tajikistan from constructing new facilities at the site for construction of the Roghun HPP.
Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Struan Stevenson remarked this at a news conference in Dushanbe on July 18.
He stressed that if the World Bank delay carrying out assessment studies for the Roghun hydroelectricity project in the future as well and construction works at the site are not continued, the Roghun builders that have been left without jobs will leave Tajikistan seeking better employment opportunities.
At the same time, Mr. Stevenson noted that during his visit to the site for construction of the Roghun HPP he had got evidence that works at the side had not been suspended fully.
MEP stressed that nobody can make the World Bank speed up work on conducting the assessment studies for the Roghun project, be he would try to explain the Bank representatives the difficult energy supply situation that emerged in Tajikistan in winter months.
Introduction of the first line of the plant into operation will show to what an extent it will affect the environment, and 1.2 megawatt of electricity that will be generated by the first two units of the plant will meet Tajikistan’s requirements in electricity, Mr. Stevenson noted.
“I do not understand why the downstream countries oppose the construction of the Roghun HPP, because hydroelectric power plants do not have any negative impact on the system of use of water and the environment of the region,” said MEP. “There is the Norak HPP that has operated for already 40 years and water of its reservoir has been used effectively.”
Mr. Stevenson noted that 90 water reservoirs existed in the Central Asian region and 45 of them were in Uzbekistan. They are not concreted that allows the water to sink into the earth.
“It is hard to understand why somebody tries to prohibit Tajikistan from using its resources. I personally consider that the Roghun power plant must be built, because it is an essential project for Tajikistan,” MEP Stevenson said.
We will recall that the construction of Rogun HPP was begun in 1980 during the Soviet Union, but stalled in the 1990s for lack of funds. Currently most of the site preparation works about 70% of the underground works (access tunnels, penstocks, diversion and outlet tunnels, chambers for turbines/generators and transformers) have reportedly been completed.
The Roghun HPP would have a reservoir with multi-year regulation mode with a dam height of 335 m, located on the Vaksh River. The reservoir would have a total storage volume of 13 km3; a live storage of 8.6 km3, and would likely extend upstream over a distance of about 70 km. The installed capacity is proposed to be 6×600 MW (totaling 3,600 MW) and the annual power generation would be 13,300 GWh. Despite significant storage, the Roghun HPP was expected to produce electricity in Tajikistan and develop irrigation in the region. The majority of the electricity to be produced by Roghun HPP is expected to be exported.
