DUSHANBE, October 29, 2013, Asia-Plus — Malaysian company, HOS International Trading SND BHD, will construct a combined heat and power (CHP) plant with capacity of 300 megawatt in northern Tajikistan.
According to the State Committee on Investments and State-owned Property Management (GosKomInvest), a concession agreement on the Shurob CHP plant has been signed between the Government of Tajikistan and HOS International Trading SND BHD in Dushanbe recently.
The agreement reportedly regulates relations between the government of Tajikistan and the Malaysian company within the framework of the project that provides for modernization of open joint-stock company (OJSC) Angisht (Coal) and construction and use of the Shurob CHP plant.
The estimated budget for construction of the Shurob CHP plant is 400 million USD.
Modernization of OJSC Angisht and construction of the Shurob CHP plant will create 1,000 new jobs, the source said.
Tajikistan relies almost exclusively on hydropower to generate electricity, which becomes scarce in the winter months when rivers freeze and water reservoir levels drop.
The Shurob Township was established in 1952. In Soviet time it had a population of 8,400 (1991), most people worked in coal-mining industry. There were several factories, palace of culture, a stadium, a library, a movie theater, a park, etc. The town was supplied by Moscow, and wages of local people were higher, than in many other Tajik cities.
After the breakup of the USSR in 1991, most of the coal mines, factories, culture institutions were closed and the town lost more than a half of its population.
