DUSHANBE, July 22, 2009, Asia-Plus – Ten wind turbines installed recently in the Baljuvon, Farkhor, and Shuroobod districts of southern Tajikistan are suffering from a lack of wind, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on July 21.

The Tajik Energy and Industry Ministry says the turbines are not producing as much electricity as expected because the areas where they were built are not very windy.

Ministry official Dildor Bozorov said that each of the turbines -- which cost between $2,000-$20,000 depending on their size -- can produce up to 20 kilowatts of energy per day, enough for the needs of 20 families. He added that the wind turbines were also supposed to produce electricity for other municipal buildings such as the library, hospital, and school.

Rahmatali Nazriyev, an energy expert in the Khatlon Province where the turbines were built, said that in the Energy and Industry Ministry''s haste to fulfill Tajik President Emomali Rahmon''s order to create wind power, the ministry failed to conduct proper research on the wind currents in the area.

Nazriyev added that some private wind turbines that have been built in windy parts of the region are showing much better results.