DUSHANBE, December 25, 2012, Asia-Plus -- On Tuesday December 25, the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) held parliamentarian hearings on use of renewable energy resources and implementation of a long-term national program for construction of small hydropower plants designed for 2009-2020.

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of energy and Industries, Gul Sherali, noted that to-date, a special governmental commission has determined more than 180 sites in the regions for construction of small hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) without additional expenses.

Abdullo Yorov, head of Barqi Tojik ((Tajik state-owned utility responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity), said that eight small HPPs with a total capacity of 8,000 kilowatts have been built in the country over the past two years alone.

According to him, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) awarded a more than US$9 million grant for construction of the mentioned power plants and Barqi Tojik’s contribution in those projects exceeded 4 million U.S. dollars.

MP Shodi Shabdolov, who is also leader of the Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT), noted that the Ministry of energy and Industries (MoEI) should carry out comprehensive examination of the technical state of all small HPPs built in the country since the early 1990s.  He also proposed to include the small hydropower plants in the country’s unified power supply system.