The Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant generated its first electricity exactly 17 years ago, on January 20, 2008

On this day, the first unit of the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant entered service ahead of schedule during the unusually harsh winter, which put Tajikistan’s energy system on the brink of collapse.

Since then, the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant has generated over 35 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.

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 second and third units of the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant entered service on July 1, 2008, and November 15, 2008, respectively.

Tajik and Russian presidents officially unveiled the fourth and last unit of the Sangtuda-1 HPP on July 31, 2009.

Russian-Tajik Open Joint-Stock Company OJSC Sangtudinskaya GES-1, which operates theSangtuda-1 hydropower plant, was established to complete the construction of the Santuda-1 power plant.  Russia’s Inter RAO YeES and the Ministry of Energy and Industries of Tajikistan signed an agreement on the establishment of the company in Dushanbe on February 16, 2005.

Russia owns 75% percent of the shares minus one share and Tajikistan assumes the 25% ownership interest plus one share in Sangtudinskaya GES-1.