Tajik authorities have introduced electricity rationing in rural areas of the country ahead of the approaching winter.
A source within the Tajik government told Asia-Plus that the electricity rationing system came into force on January 5, beginning at 11:00 pm.
According to him, the power rationing was introduced in connection with a decline in the water level in the Nurek reservoir. The current water level in the reservoir powering the Nurek hydropower plant is reportedly four meter lower compared to the same period last year.
The source did not say until what time the power rationing will last.
Residential customers in rural areas now have electricity seventeen hours per day – from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm.
Electricity rationing has not affected Dushanbe, regional administrative centers and large cities.
Measures rationing electricity supplies are usually introduced in all regions except Dushanbe and regional administrative centers and they seek to curb the country's rising electricity consumption. The rationing results in the supply of daily electrical power being reduced to 12 or 10 hours. In addition to curbing rising consumption, the move also stems from a decline in the water level in the country's reservoirs powering the main hydroelectric power plants.
