DUSHANBE, April 27, Asia-Plus - Tajikistan plans to have started the construction of eight small hydropower plants already this year, Rashid Gulov, deputy engineer-in-chief with Barqi Tojik power holding, told journalists on April 26.  

According to him, 26 small power plants are scheduled to have been put into operation in Tajikistan by 2012.  “Projects for the construction of eight of these 26 plants have already been prepared and they will be implemented due to a $9.2 million loan provided by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and Barqi Tojik which provides $2.4 million to co-finance these projects,” Gulov said, noting that tenders for the construction of these eight plants will be announced in the near future.   

The Barqi Tojik official noted that two small plants had been put into operation in the Rasht Valley since the beginning of the year – the Dushokhzamin plant in the Nurobod district and the Kalandak plant in the Rasht district.   

We will recall that the government in September last year endorsed a long-term program of construction of a small hydropower electric plants between 2007 and 2020. Under the program, 71 small power plants are scheduled to be built by 2020. The total capacity of the plants will be 480.571 million kWh of electricity a year. 

The Barqi Tojik deputy head Sirojiddin Saidov speaking to journalists noted that the construction of the Zarafshon hydropower plant in northern Tajikistan will start in the third quarter of this year. 

China’s Sinohydro Corp has been awarded a contract to build the Zarafshon plant and according to Saidov, the project will funded though a low-interest Chinese loan.  “The Chinese side will provide some $300 million for the full implementation of the project,” the Barqi Tojik deputy head said.      

The Zarafshon plant that will have the capacity of 150 megawatt will produce some 600 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year.