DUSHANBE, January 11, 2012, Asia-Plus -- The Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP) has reportedly increased power generation.

The press center of open joint stock company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya GES-1, which operates the station, reports Sangtuda-1 HPP generated more than 2.169 billion kWh of electricity last year, which is 30 percent more than in 2010 (in 2010, the station generated little more than 1.633 billion kWh of electrical power).

In all, the station has generated more than 6.699 billion kWh of electricity since January 20, 2008 when the first unit of the station was introduced into operation.

Meanwhile, the price of one kWh of electricity generated by the Sangtuda-1 HPP has been raised from US$0.0183 to US$0.019 (18 percent VAT is not included), the source said.

Starting from this year, tariff of electricity generated by the Sangtuda-1 HPP for domestic market will rise at least 4.0 percent annually.

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.