DUSHANBE, February 16, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- On Tuesday February 16, open joint-stock company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya GES-1, which operates the Sangtuda-1 station, marked its fifth anniversary.

Russia’s Inter RAO YeES and the Ministry of Energy and Industries of Tajikistan signed an agreement on the establishment of Russian-Tajik OJSC Sangtudinskaya GES-1 in Dushanbe on February 16, 2005.  The company was established to complete the construction of the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP) on the Vakhsh River.

According to press release issued by Sangtudinskaya GES-1, the station now accounts for some 15 percent of the overall volume of electricity produced in Tajikistan.  Sangtuda-1 HPP has reportedly generated more than 3 billion kWh of electricity since January 2008, when the first unit of the station was introduced into operation.  In February 2010, average daily generation of electricity increased to more than 6.7 million kWh.  In January 2010, Sangtuda-1 HPP generated some 180 million kWh of electrical power.    

During the so-called summer maximum, the station increases Tajikistan’s electricity export opportunities to 1.5 billion kWh of electricity, press release said.

We will recall that President Emomali Rahmon and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev officially unveiled the fourth and last unit of the Sangtuda-1 HPP on July 31, 2009.

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.

Russia retains a 75 percent share in the power plant, which generates a projected 2.7 billion kWh of electricity per annum.  Russia’s contribution to the project amounts to some 700 million U.S. dollars.  The power station has an estimated capacity of 670 MW.