DUSHANBE, September 23, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP) has generated 887 million kWh of electricity in April-September this year, which is 66 percent, or 344 million kWh, more than in the same period last year, according to the press center of open joint stock company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya GES-1, which operates the station.

Average daily generation of electricity increased from 2.9 million kWh in 2010 to 4.8 million kWh in 2011, the source said.

The construction of the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant located some 110 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe began in the late 1980s.  By the early 1990s, only 20% of the construction work had been completed, and further construction was suspended due to a civil war that broke out in Tajikistan in the early 1990s.  The talks between Russia and Tajikistan on completing the construction of the Sangtuda-1 HPP began in 2003 and in 2004 the parties signed an inter-governmental agreement.

The fourth and last unit of the Sangtuda-1 HPP was officially unveiled on July 31, 2009.  The power station with estimated capacity of 670MW is projected to generate 2.7 billion kWh of electricity per annum.

The Sangtuda-1 HPP reportedly accounts for some 15 percent of the overall amount of electricity generated in Tajikistan.