Eurasian Integration Yearbook 2012

Advanced Economic Cooperationin Sectors and Industries4.5 km 3 respectively. The Nurek HPP with its reservoir is a backbone facilityin the Vakhsh Cascade and the Tajik power system as a whole, and plays a keyrole in the interstate regulation of the use of the Amudarya water resources.All Tajikistan’s large hydropower facilities were built during the Soviet era andthe development of hydropower in the country has frozen since the breakdownof the USSR. Given the obsolete and worn-out equipment and grid infrastructureand decreased financing of their overhaul and upgrade, electricity generationhas reduced with technical losses exceeding 2-2.7 billion kWh a year. Thesefactors, coupled with unstable parallel operation with the electric power gridsof the region, can cause shortages in electricity supplies, particularly in winter.With an increase in population, these shortages will become more acute and it isplanned to commission new generating facilities to meet the growing demand.Tajikistan’s hydropower system began to revive in 2004 when agreementswere signed between Russia and Tajikistan and between Iran and Tajikistan toconstruct Sangtuda-1 and Sangtuda-2 HPPs.The design of Sangtuda-1 and the construction of preparatory facilities (theroad and the transmission line, among others) took place simultaneously. Dueto collapse of the Soviet Union, construction was halted (about 13% of workhad been completed at the time). In October 2004, the governments of Russiaand Tajikistan signed an agreement on the procedure and terms of Russia’sparticipation in the construction of Sangtuda-1 and the project was restarted.In February 2005, the parties have set up a joint stock company Sangtuda-1HPP with Russia holding an 84.03% stake in the company’s charter capital andTajikistan 15.97%. Investments by Russia and its energy companies, primarilyINTER RAO UES, exceeded 16 billion roubles. The plant was commissioned onJuly 31, 2009.Sangtuda-1 HPP is the largest investment project and the first hydropowerfacility in joint use and operation to have been implemented by Russia in theCIS. This form of cooperation in the hydropower sector is of significant interestand this experience can be used in the construction of other hydropower andwater facilities by two or more countries. In this regard, it seems appropriate todiscuss the construction and operation of Sangtuda-1 HPP in more detail.The power plant is located on the Vakhsh River in Danghara District, KhatlonProvince, 110 km south of Dushanbe. The fifth plant in the Vakhsh Cascade,Sangtuda-1 HPP is one of Tajikistan’s largest hydropower plants, along withNurek (3,000 MW) and Baipaza (600 MW). The plant’s installed capacitymakes up 670 MW (four 167.5 MW units with a service life of 25-40 yearswithout reconstruction). It generates 2.733 TWh a year on average, including1.64 TWh in the summer period (April-September) and 1.1 TWh in the winterperiod (October-March). The gross and active storage capacity of the reservoiris 258 million m 3 and 12 million m 3 respectively. Its surface area is 9.75 km 2 ,220 EDB Eurasian Integration Yearbook 2012