In an address to a joint meeting of both chambers of parliament, President Emomali Rahmon noted on December 23 that Tajikistan has rich resources to generate clean energy.
He reiterated that 98% of electricity in Tajikistan is generated by hydropower plants, and Tajikistan ranks sixth in the world in terms of “green energy.”
According to him, Tajikistan is also among the top countries in terms of least amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
Rahmon noted that the use of “clean" energy generated by Tajikistan’s hydropower plants for charging electric vehicles will reduce the country’s demand for products, and thereby contribute to the protection and improvement of the environment.
“In this context, the Ministries of Industry and New Technologies and Transport are mandated to take specific measures to initiate the manufacturing and assembly of electric vehicles within the country,” the president said.
He further noted that to promote and present the environmental advantages of our industrial products manufactured with the use of "green energy", the local enterprises need to take measures to obtain a "Green Product Certification” (GPC) issued by the specialized international agencies.
“Currently 20 more projects amounting 17 billion somonis (TJS) in total are under implementation as part of our efforts taken in the years of independence towards energy security and efficiency,” Rahmon said.
He noted that this year, they completed the project on rehabilitation of Sarband hydroelectric power plant (HPP) with the capacity of 270Mw amounting to TJS 1,360 billion, while the initiatives on reconstruction of the Nurek HPP amounting to TJS 7 billion and Qayroqqum HPP TJS2 billion as well as construction of Sebzor HPP amounting to TJS612 million in Roshtqala district of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) and wind and solar power plants in GBAO’s Murgab district amounting to TJS170 million are smoothly ongoing.
“It is noteworthy that after 50 years of operation, the first unit of the Nurek HPP was renovated at the cost of over TJS 800m and was launched with the new capacity of 375Mw in October 2022,” said Tajik leader. “The full completion of the renovation works and installation of modern equipment and technologies will enable the Nurek HPP to enter its new life with increased capacity of 775Mw.”
The construction activities in Roghun HPP are reportedly also ongoing dynamically. To this end TJS3.2 billion were reportedly channeled in 2022.
“At the same time, it should be underlined that the electricity loss has had a negative impact on the financial situation of companies and enterprises in this sector in recent years,” said Rahmon. “We have spent over TJS 10.7bn for restoration and renovation of the country's electricity grids during the independence period. However, the electricity loss situation is still concerning as it was 20.4% in ten months of this year.”
In this regard, the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources and the Electricity Distribution Company have been mandated to ensure high-quality and timely implementation of the TJS2.4 billion project on electricity loss reduction and install more than 800,000 billing meters in various districts and towns of the country within the identified time-frame.
The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources is reportedly mandated to work with the line companies to establish a unified and centralized billing system, install smart meters, and thereby reduce electricity losses to 9%t by the end of 2025, ensure the full collection of electricity fees and effective use of existing resources.
Given the “green energy” resources and opportunities in the country, the ministries of energy and water resources, industry and new technologies, economic development and trade, the State Committee on Investment and State-owned Property Management and the National Academy of Sciences have to establish an interagency working group to comprehensively research the opportunities and the prospects for the development of hydrogen energy, and submit a specific proposal to the Government.
