DUSHANBE (TCA) — As the winter season is nearing, Tajikistan has introduced electricity rationing in some parts of the country starting from November 1, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.
Nozirjon Yodgori, a spokesman for the Barqi Tojik state energy company, told RFE/RL that the capital, Dushanbe, and regional capitals are exempted from the rationing scheme.
About 98 percent of Tajikistan’s electricity is produced by hydropower stations.
Yodgori said that cold weather has lowered the water level of rivers used by the hydropower stations, leading to a drop in electricity production.
Tajikistan has introduced electricity rationing in parts of the country every winter since the early 1990s.
On October 28, a problem at the country’s largest hydro power plant caused a nearly three-hour blackout аcross Tajikistan.
The company that operates the Nurek hydroelectric power plant said there was an outage at the facility which provides up to three-quarters of the country’s power.
Tajikistan is heavily dependent on hydroelectric power and regularly experiences electricity outages.
On October 29, Tajikistan started the construction of the Rogun Dam, a massive project that, if completed, would be the world’s tallest and should give Tajikistan a stable energy supply.
Authorities say the Rogun Dam will be able to provide electricity for the whole country, and could also provide parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan with cheap electricity.
Italian construction company Salini Impregilo won a $3.9 billion contract to build the dam.
The plan is to have two of the six turbines of the Rogun hydro power plant start producing electricity for sale by 2018. The first turbine is to go into service in August 2018, followed by the second one in October of the same year.
Once completed, the power plant will have 6 turbines of 600 MW each with a total installed capacity of 3,600 MW.
