SANGTUDA, December 15, Asia-Plus - Another step was made today towards energy independence of Tajikistan, President Rahmonov remarked at a ceremony of an official beginning of the construction of dam on the Vakhsh River in the dam site on December 15.  

“The construction of this power station will allow Tajikistan to meet its domestic needs,” said Rahmonov, “And we hope it will be finished not in 2009 but in 2008.”

The president noted that Tajikistan has the reserves of water and power resources in the amount of more than 500 billion kWh per annum.  

The president stressed that when built the Sangtuda-1, Sangtuda-2 and Roghun power plants will annually generate 34 billion kWh of electricity, while Tajikistan annual requirements in electricity are 24 billion kWh today.   “Surplus power could be transmitted to other countries,” the head of state noted. 

Rahmonov also pointed to the necessity of the construction of power-transmission line from Tajikistan to Afghanistan.  

The Santuda-1 station will be the fifth power plant on the Vakhsh River and it will have capacity to annually generate more than 2.7 billion kWh of electricity.  “At present, 3,500 people are working on the construction of the Sangtuda-1 plant; of them, 3,000 are Tajiks,” Rahmonov said, noting that the construction is a unique school of experience for Tajik specialists.      

            ”I asked head the RAO YeES head to intensify work in order that the first unit of the Sangtuda-1 plant would be put into operation in December 2007,” Rahmonov said.  

For his part, Chubais stated that this facility will promote rehabilitation of Tajikistan’s economy, its energy sector and facilitate further expansion of friendship between the Tajik and Russian peoples.