Tajik coal-mining enterprises produced more than 1.9 million tons of coal last year, which is more than 200,000 tons more than in 2017, according to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies (MoINT).
“It is the largest amount of coal ever produced in Tajikistan,” an official source at a MoINT told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, twelve enterprises were engaged in production of coal last year. Fon Yaghnob Mine reportedly accounted for more than 46 percent of cola produced in Tajikistan in 2018. Over the report period, TALCO-Resource LTD accounted to 23 percent and the Coal Extraction Department Tajik Metallurgical Plan LLC accounted for 18 percent, the source added.
The Dushanbe-2 combined heat and power (CHP) plant is reportedly the main consumer of Tajik coal.
Meanwhile, the MoINT says Tajikistan last year exported some 45,000 tons of coal to neighboring countries, which was 33,000 tons more than in 2012.
Since 2007, more than more than 160 industrial enterprises in Tajikistan have been shifted to coal and 230 coal-fired enterprises now operate in the country.
Exploration and development of coal fields has been intensified in Tajikistan since 2012 when Uzbekistan stopped gas shipments to Tajikistan.
In 2014, coal production amounted to 870,000 tons, in 2015 – already 1 million tons. In 2016, the volume of coal production in Tajikistan increased by another 30% reaching nearly 1.4 million tons. In 2017, Tajikistan produced more than 1.7 million tons of coal.
Coal deposits of Tajikistan are reportedly concentrated in two coal basins: Tajik (Hissar-Darvaz) and Fergana. The first of them covers the absolute majority of deposits and occurrences concentrated in central and southern Tajikistan. Deposits and occurrences of northern Tajikistan belong to the South Fergana coal basin.
The coal deposits of the Tajik coal basin in the vast majority of cases are exposed in the mountain ranges of the Tien Shan and Pamir-Alay, framing the Afghan-Tajik basin.
The industrial potential of the Tajik coal basin is significant. According to experts from the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), Tajikistan’s possible coal reserves are estimated at least 4.3 billion tons.
In the territory of Tajikistan there are four regions of development of carbonaceous deposits, each one has a number of characteristic features according to geological zoning: 1) Zarafshan-Hissar; 2) South-Hissar; 3) the Pamir Darvaz; and 4) south-Fergana.
The biggest region, largest in acreage coal-bearing area that has the maximum number of coal veins, is Zarafshan-Hissar. The coal-bearing strata extends in almost uninterrupted strip from Panjakent to the river head of the Zarafshan River.
The Coal Mining in the EDB Countries survey released by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) on September 7, 2017, says, “For Tajikistan, the coal being produced in the country is an energy raw material and it will be hard to replace it by alternative energies in the foreseeable future.”
The survey, in particular, notes that during the period from 2012 to 2016, average annual growth rates were approximately 44 percent. “Over the first six months of this year, average annual growth rates have been estimated at 20.6 percent (up to 541,000 tons). In the medium term, the government intends to essentially increase production capacity of coal mining in order to meet internal requirements in cola and provide export of coal,” EDB experts stressed.
They say the coal mining in Tajikistan has vast prospects for further development.
According to EDB experts, Tajikistan’s possible coal reserves are estimated at least 4.3 billion tons.
Meanwhile, Tajik ecologists express concern about increase in production of cola in the country.
The Government of Tajikistan intends to expand coal production in the country by 2020 and invest considerable funds in the infrastructure associated with this type of fossil fuel. Local environmental organizations opposed such plans and pointed out that this is fundamentally contrary to the international commitments undertaken by the country under the Paris Agreement.
