The Minister of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan, Daler Juma, discussed mutually beneficial cooperation in the energy sector with the regional director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for Central Asia, Ayten Rustamova.
"Special attention was paid to financing the joint Tajik-Uzbek project for the construction of two hydroelectric power plants on the Zarafshan River," reports the press service of the Ministry of Energy of Tajikistan.
A preliminary agreement on the joint construction of two hydroelectric power plants on the Zarafshan River in the Ayni district of the Sughd region of Tajikistan was reached between the presidents of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2018.
In June 2022, during an official visit by Mirziyoyev to Tajikistan, the leaders of the two countries launched the construction of the first of these stations, the Yavan Hydroelectric Power Plant, with a capacity of 140 megawatts.
The estimated cost of this station is $282 million, and it is expected to produce 700-800 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
The projected capacity of the second hydroelectric power plant on the Zarafshan River is expected to be 180 MW. The electricity generated by these stations is anticipated to be supplied to Uzbekistan.
According to the press service of the President of Uzbekistan, leading international institutions, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank, have shown interest in financing the project.
Meanwhile, the Tajik Ministry of Energy emphasizes that Daler Juma and Ayten Rustamova also exchanged views on the "CASA-1000" project, the "Reconstruction of the Kayrakkum Hydroelectric Power Plant," the "Reduction of Electricity Losses in the Cities of Dushanbe, Khujand, Bokhtar, Kulob," the "Reconstruction of the Sughd-500 Substation," and on studying the energy market of Tajikistan to attract private investment in the development of the electricity sector.
"There was a conviction that in the future, cooperation between Tajikistan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the energy sector will expand, focusing on hydropower and renewable energy sources," concludes the statement.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
July 9, 2024