DUSHANBE, May 7, 2014, Asia-Plus -- As of May 1, 2014, Barqi Tojik (the state-owned utility responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Tajikistan) owed 557.6 million somoni to Sangtuda-1 and Sangtuda-2 hydroelectric power plants (HPPs).

“As of May 1, 2014, Tajik power holding owed some 400 million somoni to Sangtuda-1 HPP,” an official source at Barqi Tojik told Asia-Plus in an interview.

Sangtuda-1 HPP and Sangtuda-2 HPP are located on the Vakhsh River in Khatlon province.

Sangtuda-1 HPP, consisting of four units with total capacity of 670 MW, was officially commissioned on July 31, 2009.

The construction of 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 Sangtuda-1 HPP began in 2003 and in 2004 the parties signed an inter-governmental agreement.

Construction of Sangtuda-2, a 220-megawatt plant on the Vakhsh River, officially commenced in February 2006.  It is located some 120 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe.

Iran, which has put some 180 million U.S. dollars into the construction of the hydropower station, will operate it for the next 12 years and then transfer control to Tajikistan, whose contribution to the construction costs amounted to around 40 million U.S. dollars.

The power plant is expected to help alleviate power shortages in Tajikistan during autumn-winter period.

The first 110 MW unit of the plant was introduced into operation on September 5, 2011.  Tajik and Iranian presidents attended a joint ceremony to unveil the Sangtuda-2 dam and power plant. 

Installation of the second 110 MW unit at the Sangtuda2 HPP was completed in May 2013 but the launch of this generation has been postponed.