Tajik President Emomali Rahmon is expected to unveil the first unit of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP) today afternoon, at 4:00 pm.
What Tajikistan needs the Roghun hydroelectric power plant for?
Within the framework of the National Development Strategy, the Government of Tajikistan plans to increase production capacity in the coming decade and to turn Tajikistan, which is currently the agrarian country, into the ndustrial-agrarian country. Additional power resources are needed for this.
Besides, the population is growing rapidly that means that new households will be connected to the country’s power system.
Moreover, Tajikistan plans to export part of electricity generated by the Roghun HPP. After all the six units of the plant are introduced into operation, it will be able to generate 13-17 billion kWh of electricity per year, which is nearly equal to the annual output of all hydropower plants operating in Tajikistan.
If Tajikistan is selling, for example, 10 billion kWh of electricity per year at the rate of 3.0-4.0 cents per kWh, it will be earning 300-400 million U.S. dollars per year.
Tajikistan could supply electricity generated by the Roghun HPP to Afghanistan and Pakistan within the framework of the CASA 1000 Project. Tajikistan could also supply electricity to Uzbekistan and India in the future.
The Roghun reservoir will also regulate the water flow. A total volume of the Roghun reservoir will be some 13.5 cubic kilometers and the net effective volume will be equal to some 10 cubic kilometers. The reservoir will allow accumulating water during floods, regulating further level of water in the Vakhsh River.
During low waters, the accumulated water will be used for irrigation of agricultural lands.
