Tajikistan has reportedly lifted electricity rationing in rural areas.
Barqi Tojik (Tajikistan’s national power utility company) says the power rationing that had been effective in rural areas of the country since later September last year was lifted on January 11.
The decision to lift the electricity rationing was reportedly taken at the direction of President Emomali Rahmon due to recent snowfall and a sharp drop in air temperature.
At the same time, Barqi Tojik asks consumers for economical and rational use of electricity.
Tajikistan struggles with electricity rationing 30 years after independence, despite long-held dreams of becoming an energy export powerhouse.
Measures rationing electricity supplies are usually introduced in all regions of the country except Dushanbe, the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (in GBAO, the power grid is operated by Pamir Energy Company) 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 reservoir powering the country’s largest hydroelectric power station (HPS) Nurek.
