Tajikistan is set to construct its first fully hydropower data center in the Darvoz district of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), marking a major leap forward in sustainable AI infrastructure in Central Asia, says press release issued by AI CONF 2025.

The project is a joint venture between Tajik AI sustainability firm darya.ai and Yotta Data Services Private Limited, India’s largest data center developer and part of the Hiranandani Group.

The agreement was officially signed on October 25 on the sidelines of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence held in Dushanbe.

The new facility will serve as a cornerstone of Tajikistan’s national AI infrastructure and support the country’s long-term goal of generating up to 5% of its GDP from the AI sector by 2040. Entirely powered by renewable hydropower, the Darvoz data center is expected to position Tajikistan as a regional hub for data storage and processing in Central Asia.

Equipped with advanced computing capabilities, the center will cater to the needs of enterprises, government institutions, and research organizations, while also offering startups access to high-performance NVIDIA GPU-powered infrastructure. The use of clean energy aligns with the government’s vision for a green economy and environmentally sustainable technologies.

“Partnering with Yotta is a crucial step toward building a modern, independent tech infrastructure in Tajikistan,” said Kristina Zaalishvili, Chief Operating Officer of darya.ai. “This project not only enhances regional AI capacity but also creates new opportunities for engineers, researchers, and data specialists.”

The joint venture combines darya.ai’s local expertise in sustainable technologies with Yotta’s global experience in building energy-efficient data centers.

The Darvoz project is the first phase of a broader initiative to position Tajikistan as a strategic technological bridge between South and Central Asia in the field of artificial intelligence.

A hydropower green data center is a data center that is designed to be energy-efficient and is powered primarily or entirely by hydroelectricity, a renewable energy source. This approach significantly reduces the facility's carbon footprint compared to traditional centers that rely on fossil fuels. Hydropower provides a consistent, "firm" power source that can be combined with other renewables like solar and wind for a reliable green energy supply.