DUSHANBE, December 3, 2014, Asia-Plus — Pamir Energy Company (PamirEnergy), a private public energy utility in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), Tajikistan today announced an opening ceremony for the completion of 19.2 km of a 35kV power transmission line from Qalai Khumb up to Dashti Patkunob, which now provides high quality and reliable electricity to over 5,220 people in Darvoz.
PamirEnergy notes that the German Federal Foreign Office, through the PATRIP Foundation, provided a €2.3 million grant to support Pamir Energy Company’s cross-border energy program in Darvoz, Afghanistan and Tajikistan in 2011. The Aga Khan Foundation (UK), signatory on the grant agreement with PATRIP Foundation, provided PamirEnergy with direct grant management support. The project followed a two-phase process including the construction of 37km of a 35kV transmission line in Darvoz district, Tajikistan and connecting 683 households in Nusai and Mohi Mai, Afghanistan in 2013.
Successful implementation of the project reportedly allowed the stakeholders of the project to also achieve cost savings of €305,115 (approx. $380k). This saving, along with co-financing from PamirEnergy, enabled the commissioning of a further 19.2 km of a 35kV transmission line from Qalai Khumb Township to Patkunob in Darvoz, providing reliable and high quality electricity to 17 villages with a total population of over 5,220 in Darvoz, Tajikistan.
During the opening ceremony, a representative of the PATRIP Foundation, Ms. Kristin Laabs, KfW Country Director for Tajikistan, pointed out that “the provision of electricity makes daily life, particularly for women, much easier. PATRIP Foundation is committed to contributing to the improvement of living conditions of the people and will continue to fund cross-border projects in GBAO.”
“The newly completed 35kV transmission line has not only improved power supply for 26% of the population in Darvoz, Tajikistan, it has also laid the foundation to connect more Afghan villages located southwest of Qalai Khumb to the PamirEnergy grid in the future” – said Mr. Matthew Scanlon from Industrial Promotion Service (IPS), a division of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. “As part of this project, PamirEnergy also rehabilitated the major 35/10kV sub-stations in Darvoz, which further enhances the reliability and safety of the power supply both in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.”
Since completion of the rehabilitation of the major energy facilities in GBAO, over 86% of inhabitants in the region now have access to electricity 24 hours a day/365 days a year, with additional subsidies providing the poorest households with a minimum level of energy at prices they can afford.
PamirEnergy, an Open Joint Stock Company, was formed in 2002 by the Aga Khan Development Network (under a 25 year Concession Agreement with the Government of Tajikistan) to restore electricity services in GBAO, Tajikistan through the development of hydropower and the rehabilitation of the transmission and distribution networks. Pamir Energy is the result of combined investment: 70% provided by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and 30% by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Components of the company have been financed by AKFED, IFC, the Government of Switzerland, and through a World Bank loan provided to the Government of Tajikistan.
