KHUJAND, March 15, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- New power rationing in the northern Sughd province has imposed a limit on residential customers of only seven and half hours of electricity per day.

Residential customers in northern Tajikistan currently have electrical power from 5:00 am to 9:00 am and again between 6:00 pm and 9:30 pm.

The source at the office of Barqi Tojik (state-owned utility responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Tajikistan) for Sughd, who wanted to remain unnamed, told Asia-Plus the new power rationing had been introduced in the province due to decrease in the Vakhsh River water inflow.  “On March 1, the supply of daily electricity to the province decreased from 8.5 million kWh to 7.5 million kWh,” he noted.

According to the source, the Qairoqqum hydroelectric power plant (HPP), currently operates in full capacity, generating 2.8 million kWh of electricity per day.  The station covers up to 20 percent of the province’s annual requirements in electrical power, he added.