DUSHANBE , April 28, Asia-Plus - Tajikistan ’s hydropower plants have generated more than 3.187 billion kWh of electricity in January-March this year, the Barqi Tojik holding company top manager Sharifkhon Samiyev told journalists on April 28.   .

According to him, Tajikistan has imported 1.837 billion kWh of electric power and has exported 13 million kWh of electricity to Afghanistan over the same three-month period. 

The Tajik electric systems head noted that Tajikistan intended to have supplied totaling some 80 million kWh of electricity to Afghanistan this year.  “To increase electricity supplies to Afghanistan we have to resolve the issue of construction of the power-transmission lines,” Sharifkhon Samiyev noted.  

He also noted that Tajikistan mulled electric power transit routes.  According to him, Tajikistan is supposed to sign in May this year contracts on supplying electricity generated by its largest hydroelectric power station Norak to southern regions of Russia via power systems of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan .  “It just remains to resolve the issue of transit via territory of the neighboring country,” the Barqi Tojik top manger said.  

According to Samiyev, the Norak hydropower plant annually throws out 2.2 billion cubic meters of water in the summer period for nothing while electric power that would have been generated from this volume of water is equal to capacity of the Baipaza of Sangtuda power plant.  Chairman of the “Barqi Tojik” holding company said that during that period [summer] Tajikistan was ready to supply electricity to other countries.  

In the meantime, a deputy chairman of the Barqi Tojik company, Anatoly Silantyev, speaking to journalists noted that senior representatives of energy systems from four Central Asia ’s states ( Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan and Uzbekistan ) gathered in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek on April 25 to discuss a draft protocol on electricity supplies from one country to another one.  Under this document no one of these countries has the right of cutting off or supplying electric power to other country without coordination with other signatories to the protocol, according to Mr. Silantyev.  “All participants at the meeting, except Uzbekistan , have endorsed the draft protocol,” Silantyev said, noting that the Uzbek representatives justified his refusal to endorse the document by saying that “he has to coordinate the document with the leadership of his country.  

For his part, Mr. Samiyev added that the document lifted all obstacles on the way of supply of Tajik electric power to other countries.