A tripartite grant agreement for 18.6 million euros was signed in Dushanbe on July 22.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MoEDT) press center, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade Zavqi Zavqizoda signed this document with the German development Bank (KfW).

This grant of the European Union is reportedly provided for construction of the Sebzor hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).

The MoEDT press center also notes they also signed an agreement with KfW on providing €1 million to Tajikistan for coverage of the country’s needs to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).  

Recall, the European Union and Tajikistan held their seventh Cooperation Committee meeting and the second meeting of the EU-Tajikistan Sub-Committee on Development Cooperation in Dushanbe on June 6, 2019. For the purpose of improving well-being for vulnerable populations by providing them with electricity, the European Union has awarded a €20 million grant to support construction of the Sebzor HPP in GBAO’s Roshtqala district, the MoEDT press center said at the time. 

On August 2, 2019, Tajikistan and Germany signed an agreement on financial cooperation.  A total amount of this agreement is 27 million euros and it is aimed at supporting the Strengthening Rural Development through the Use of Adapted Land and Disaster Risk Reduction Project and the Sebzor HPP Construction Project.  Under this agreement Germany reportedly provided a €17 million grant for construction of the Sebzor HPP.  

On December 2, 2019, the governments of Tajikistan and Switzerland signed a US$9.55 million grant agreement on financing the construction of the Sebzor-Khorog power transmission line, 110 kV open switchgear and mitigating climate change effects.   

The Sebzor hydroelectric power plant (HPP) I expected to be introduced into operation in the Roshtqala district of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in 2022.

Tajikistan has reportedly allocated more than 470 million somoni for construction of this hydropower plant.

An official commencement of construction of the Sebzor HPP took place in GBAO’s Roshtqala district on July 29, 2015. 

The Sebzor HPP with capacity of 10 MW is expected to allow meeting the region’s requirements in electricity and exporting electricity to the neighboring areas of Afghanistan.

The hydropower plant that is being built in the Sebzor area of the Mirsaid Mirshakar jamoat some 15 kilometers of Khorog, the capital of GBAO, will generate up to 60 million KWh of electricity per year.  

The Sebzor hydropower plant is being constructed within the framework of the program of construction of small hydropower plants at the expense of domestic and foreign investors for the period of 2009-2020.

Adopted by the Government of Tajikistan in 2009, this program provides for the construction of 189 small hydropower plants with a total capacity of 103.6 MW and generation of 800 million kWh of electricity per year.