Another $1 bln needed to complete Rogun HPP in Tajikistan

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The total cost of the construction project of the Rogun Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) is $6 billion, according to the text of the credit agreement between the government of Tajikistan and the Saudi Development Fund for financing this project, Asiaplustj.info reports.

The document, published on the legal information portal of the Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan, notes that the full implementation of the project will be completed by the end of 2031.

Recall that the agreement was signed on December 4, 2023, in Dushanbe, and involves the allocation of a loan of 375 million Saudi riyals ($100 million) for the completion of Rogun.

These funds are provided at a preferential interest rate (1.5% per annum), and the loan repayment period is 30 years with an 8-year grace period. In other words, the loan repayment process begins in 2031 and will last until the end of 2051.

It also mentions the interest of other development partners in financing this project. Among these partners are the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (China), the Islamic Development Bank, the Abu Dhabi Development Fund, the Kuwait Development Fund, and others.

Now it is known that the EBRD intends to allocate $130 million for the completion of the Rogun HPP.

In 2008, when work on the construction of the Rogun HPP resumed, its cost was estimated at $3 billion. Later, in 2016, the amount of $3.9 billion was announced. In mid-2022, the Ministry of Energy of Tajikistan reported the need to attract $5 billion for the complete implementation of the project.

Until now, the Rogun project has been financed exclusively from state funds: more than 3 billion somoni has been allocated for its completion since the beginning of this year, including 2.6 billion somoni from the budget and 427 million somoni from the sale of electricity produced by two units of this station.

Since the beginning of recovery and construction work (since 2008), according to the government of Tajikistan, over 35 billion somoni has been allocated from the state budget for the construction of this HPP.

The Rogun HPP will become the largest hydroelectric power plant in Central Asia. The annual electricity generation capacity after the station is fully operational will be from 13 to 17 billion kilowatt-hours. This represents approximately 65%-85% of the annual electricity generation by all existing capacities in the republics.

CentralasianLIGHT.org

December 14, 2023