DUSHANBE, June 17, Asia-Plus  -- In an official letter to Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov, Russian energy conglomerate, Russia’s Unified Energy Systems (RAO YeES), has requested to repay debt for consumption of electrical power generated by the first unit of the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant. 

An official with Barqi Tojik (Tajik electric systems) power holding has confirmed this information, saying that they have received a copy of the letter.  In its letter, the Russian energy conglomerate noted that Tajikistan’s now owes some $3 million to RAO YeES for consumption of electricity generated by the Sangtuda-1 station.   

Speaking in an interview with Asia-plus, Rashid Gulov, the engineer-in-chief with Barqi Tojik, said that the Tajik power holding has purchased electrical power from RAO YeES at the rate of $0.03 per one kWh.  He noted that the debt will be repaid in the near future.    

We will recall that the first unit of the station was commissioned on January 20, 2008.   The first unit of the Sangtuda-1 plant has a planned capacity of 220 million kWh, and once all four units are completed, the station will have an annual projected capacity of 2.7 billion kWh of electricity.

Russia’s Unified Energy Systems (RAO YeES) retains a 75 percent share in the power plant, which will generate a projected 2.7 billion kWh of electricity per annum.  The power station will have an estimated capacity of 670 MW.