ADB sanctions $136m loan for hydropower project in Tajikistan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned a $136m grant for hydro power project in Tajikistan, to increase supply of renewable energy to national and regional power systems.

The funds will be used to renovate electric and mechanical equipment for power generation and transmission at the Golovnaya Hydropower Plant (HPP), located 80km south of the capital Dushanbe.

Tajikistan government intends to provide counterpart funding of $34m, while Barki Tojik will be the executing agency for the project.

The HPP project, which is the fourth largest hydropower plant in the country, has the installed generation capacity of 240 megawatts (MW).

In 1956, the construction of the Golovnaya HPP had started, while in 1962, the first unit was commissioned.

The generation capacity of the Golovnaya HPP will increase from 240 MW to 252 MW, after rehabilitation, which is expected to complete in 2020.

The project will be able to produce 1,130 gigawatt-hours of electricity per annum from 743 gigawatt-hours generated in 2012, on average.

ADB Tajikistan country director C.C. Yu said that many of the physical assets in the energy sector in Tajikistan were constructed during the Soviet era and need urgent rehabilitation and technological upgrade.

"ADB’s primary focus is to help improve the performance of the sector by rehabilitating physical infrastructure and helping reform the sector to make it more commercially viable," Yu added.

In 1998, Tajikistan had joined in ADB and the institution has approved total assistance of about $1.2bn in concessional loans, grants, and technical assistance to the country, to date.