DUSHANBE, February 25, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Last month, the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP) reportedly generated 211,355,676 kWh of electricity, which was 6.4 million kWh fewer than in January 2013.

According to open joint-stock company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya GES-1, which operates the Sangtuda-1 HPP, the plant functions in accordance with the power generation directive of the Central Supervisory Service of Barqi Tojik (the state-owned utility responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Tajikistan).

OJSC Sangtudinskaya GES-1 notes that Barqi Tojik is the only buyer of electricity generated by the Sangtuda-1 HPP and Barqi Tojik provides transmission, distribution and sale of the plant electricity

In 2013, the Sangtuda-1 HPP reportedly generated 2,010,260,448 kWh of electricity, which was 131.1 million kWh more than in 2012.

The price of one KWh of electricity generated by the Sangtuda-1 HPP is 0.2058 USD (18-percent VAT not included).

The Sangtuda-1 HPP is located on the Vakhsh River in Khatlon province, some 160 kilometers south of Dushanbe. The plant, consisting of four units with total capacity of 670 MW, was officially commissioned on July 31, 2009.

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.

Russian-Tajik OJSC Sangtudinskaya GES-1 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.