On September 7, three of the six power-generating units were put into operation after modernization at the Kairakkum hydropower plant (HPP) in the city of Guliston in Tajikistan’s northern Sughd region.
Located on the Syr-Darya River, the Kairakkum HPP consists of six hydropower units, the last of which was commissioned in 1957 and has a design capacity of 21 MW.
A project to modernize the aging plant was launched in August 2019. Over the past five years, hydro units Nos. 4, 5, and 6 have been completely renovated, and their capacity has increased from 19 to 29 MW.
The power plant’s dam has been reinforced as part of the project. Currently, work is ongoing on rehabilitating hydro units No. 2 and 3.
After the complete modernization planned for 2026, the average annual electricity production at the Kairakkum HPP will increase from 580 million kWh to 850 million kWh.
It was earlier reported that the Kairakkum HPP rehabilitation project received $196 million in financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Green Climate Fund (GCF), Climate Investment Funds, and European Investment Bank (EIB). The financing comprised a $88 million EBRD loan, a $37 million EIB loan, a $50 million GCF loan and grant, and a $21 million Climate Investment Funds loan.
In recent years, Tajikistan, which has abundant hydroenergy resources, has focused on hydropower generation projects — the largest of which is the construction of the giant Rogun dam — to solve the problem of chronic power shortages and begin electricity exports to neighbors in the region.
