DUSHANBE, July 15, 2015, Asia-Plus — Development and progress of all spheres of life of Tajikistan depend on construction of small and large hydroelectric power plants, and first of all, the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP), Tajik President Emomali Rahmon noted today during an address to a meeting of administrators of the city of Roghun.
“Taking into consideration these realities, we have announced construction of the Roghun HPP to be of vital importance for Tajikistan,” President Rahmon said.
He stressed that the construction of the Roghun HPP is continuing these days at a rapid pace.
We will recall that Tajikistan in April 2008 founded OJSC NBO Roghun with an authorized capital of 116 million somoni for completing the construction of the Roghun station after it formally revoked a contract with Russia”s RusAl aluminum company for the construction of the Roghun HPP in August 2007. The Tajik government accused the Russian company of failing to fulfill the contract signed in 2004. Tajik authorities and RusAl became bogged down in the hydroelectric plant”s dam model and height, crucial factors in its capacity.
To raise funds to complete construction of the Roghun HPP the government started to sell shares in Roghun to people on January 6, 2010. Tajikistan has reportedly issued 6 billion somoni worth of Roghun shares.
The Roghun HPP is expected to have a reservoir with multi-year regulation mode with a dam height of 335 m, located on the Vakhsh River upstream of the existing Nurek HPP cascade. The installed capacity is proposed to be 6×600 MW (totaling 3,600 MW) and the annual power generation would be 13,300 GWh.
Tajikistan’s plans to build the Roghun HPP have raised serious concerns across the border in Uzbekistan. Uzbek officials argue that because it could take up to 18 years to fill, the Roghun project will severely reduce the amount of water flowing into Uzbekistan.
