DUSHANBE, March 15, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- The Sangtuda-1 HPP, which is operated by open joint-stock company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya GES-1, has generated more than 880 million kWh of electricity since October 1, 2009, Victoria Naumova, a spokeswoman for Sangtudinskaya-GES-1, told Asia-Plus today.

According to her, the station exceeded forecasting indices for January-February 2010 by 12 percent, generating 369.4 million kWh of electric power over the report period, which is 39.4 million kWh more than it was originally planed.

In February, an average daily generation of electricity amounted to 6.76 million kWh, which was 14.8 percent more than the average daily generation in January and 43 percent more than the average daily generation for 2009.

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.

We will recall that President Emomali Rahmon and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev officially unveiled the last fourth 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’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.

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.