Tajik-Uzbek consultations to discuss details of the implementation of a project on joint construction of two hydropower plants in northern Tajikistan for Uzbekistan needs have been postponed to a later date.
A visit of an Uzbek delegation to Dushanbe scheduled for late March has been postponed to a later date, an official source within the Tajik Government told Asia-Plus in an interview.
The parties were supposed to continue discussing a draft government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the procedure and conditions for equity participation in construction and operation of hydropower plants in the Zarafshon River basin in the Tajik northern province of Sughd.
Recall, a Tajik government delegation led by Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Resources Jamshed Shoimzoda on January 29 met in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent with an Uzbek government delegation led by Abdughani Sanginov, Head of Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) UzbekHydroEnergo (UzHydro) to discuss details of implementation of Tajik-Uzbek joint project on construction of two hydropower plants in northern Tajikistan.
Construction of the hydropower plants will be carried out in stages. At the first stage, construction of the Yavan hydroelectric power plant (HPP) on the Zarafshon River in the Tajik northern district of Ayni will start. An estimated budget for construction of this 140 MW hydropower plant is 282 million U.S. dollars.
At the next stage, construction of a 135 MW hydropower plant on the Fon Daryo River in the Sughd province will start. A total cost of this project is 270 million U.S. dollars.
Electricity generated by these hydropower plants will be used exclusively for needs of Uzbekistan.
In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Jamshed Shoimzoda, noted on January 28, 2018 that a joint Tajik-Uzbek working group will determine the sites for construction of two hydroelectric power plants on the Zarafshon River in the Sughd province.
According to him, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev reached an agreement on a joint construction of the mentioned hydropower plants in 2018.
