DUSHANBE, January 16, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Abduvali Komilov, the head of the Agency for Construction and Architecture under the Government of Tajikistan, noted on January 6 that 53 new small hydropower plants (SHPP) will be built in the country this year.

Last year, more than 50 small hydropower plants were introduced into operation, Komilov noted.

According to data for the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, there were 161 small hydropower plants with a total capacity of more than 15,000 kW as of January 1, 2013, with more than half of them located in districts subordinate to the center. 

90 SHPPs with a total capacity of some 6,000 kW are located in districts subordinate to the center, 58 other SHPPs with a total capacity of 5,300 kW are located in Sughd province, 20 small SHPPs with a total capacity of more than 3,200 kW are located in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), and 13 SHPPs with a total capacity of 686.4 kW are located in Khatlon province.

Of those 161 small hydropower plants, only 118 with a total capacity of more than 10,600 kW are now operational.

Meanwhile, SHPPs in Sughd province, 45 in districts subordinate to the center, 12 in Gorno Badakhshan and six in Khatlon province are not in operation.  

The development of small hydro power plants has been identified as an optimal solution to make use of Tajikistan’s vast hydraulic potential.  The small hydropower plants require modest investments, can be practically constructed in one season, are easy to operate and can provide fast investment returns.