DUSHANBE, May 16, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The last fourth unit of the Russian-built hydroelectric power plant (HPP) Sangtuda-1 on the Vakhsh River was introduced into operation on May 15.  However, this does not mean the full completion of construction of the station, the source at joint-stock company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya GES-1, which has built the plant, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, the full completion of this turnkey project also includes creation of necessary infrastructure – improvement of the territory, reservoir and town for power engineering specialists.  The station will begin working in full capacity starting from August this year, when water levels at the reservoir powering the Sangtuda-1 stations will reach the rated level.

President Emomali Rahmom and his Russian counterpart, President Dmitry Medvedev, are expected to attend a ceremony of an official opening of the Sangtuda-1 station.

We will recall that the first unit of the Sangtuda-1 station was introduced into operation on January 20, 2008.  During 2008, the second and the third units of the plant were also introduced into operation on July 1 and November 6 respectively.

The source said that the Sangtuda-1 station had generated some 1.5 billion kWh of electrical power by May 13.

The construction of the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant located some 110 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe began in the late 1980s.  By the early 1990s, only 20% of the construction work had been completed, and further construction was suspended due to a civil war that broke out in Tajikistan in the early 1990s.  The talks between Russia and Tajikistan on completing the construction of the Sangtuda-1 HPP began in 2003 and in 2004 the parties signed an inter-governmental agreement.

Russia 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.