DUSHANBE, January 22, Asia-Plus  -- In connection with serious power crisis that hit Tajikistan, electricity supplies to all industrial enterprises, with exception of facilities of statewide importance such as Tajik aluminum smelter, Dushanbe cement plant, bread-baking and dairy plants, have been cut off, and their staffers will go on forced vacation until February 1, Sharifkhon Samiyev, head of Tajik state-controlled energy company Barqi Tojik, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 22. 

According to him, power cutoff will also not affect strategic sites like hospitals, airports, railways stations, and communications centers.  He said that schools will also be unaffected as far as possible.  

Samiyev said that the supply of daily electricity to the Tajik aluminum plant has been reduced by 2 million kWh.  The supply of daily electricity to Sughd and Khatlon provinces and districts subordinate to the center (RRPs) has been reduced by 1 million kWh.   

“The introduced measures will result in the supply of daily electricity in the provinces being reduced to only 3 hours – 1.5 hours of electricity in the morning and 1.5 in the evening,” Samiyev said.   

On the electricity supply situation in Dushanbe, the Barqi Tojik top manager noted that cyclic power cutoffs hade been introduced in Dushanbe and electricity rationing in the Tajik capital had been increased by one hour.  Under the introduced cyclic power regime, electricity supplies to residential buildings and organizations are cut off every other day, from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.  

Samiyev noted that measures, introduced to curb rising consumption, resulted from a decline in the water level the reservoir powering the Norak hydroelectric power station (HPS).  According to him, water level at the Norak reservoir has fallen to critical levels and “will be enough for powering the station only until February 10.” 

According to him, the power crisis may worsen in the second part of February even more and then a state of emergency may be declared.  

            He also noted that fuel resources of the Dushanbe heat and power plant might be over before February 10.  “At present the Dushanbe heat and power plant uses up to 930 tons of fuel oil per day to generate electricity and heat, and the remaining stock of fuel oil will be enough for only 10 days,” Samiyev said, adding that the plant has received only some 10,000 cubic meters of natural gas per day instead of the planned 50,000 cubic meters.