Tajikistan, WB discuss Rogun HPP future

By Azernews

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The World Bank Group continues to support Tajikistan as it seeks to improve people's lives and promote development for the benefit of future generations.

The World Bank and the National Bank of Tajikistan discussed issues regarding the Rogun HPP project on April 3, reports Avesta.

The parties discussed issues related to the National Development Strategy implementation and the preparation of a preliminary analytical calculation of the consequences of the macro-fiscal investment of the project.

During the meeting, representatives of the National Bank of Tajikistan and the WB delegation headed by Goar Guluman discussed the progress on the Rogun HPP project, the project financing plan, the importance of issuing Eurobonds in the project, the process of implementing the CASA-1000 project as well as energy reform and cooperation with international financial institutions.

WB representatives spoke about the possibility of attracting foreign investment to the Rogun HPP project, the prospects for exporting electricity in the region and the restructuring of the state energy holding Barki Tochik.

In 2017, the Tajik authorities decided to issue $ 1 billion worth of securities to complete the construction of the Rogun HPP. At the first stage, $ 500 million worth of bonds were put up for sale on world markets.

Thus, 24 billion rubles ($2.5 billion) were spent from all sources of financing since the start of construction of the Rogun HPP, as many as 4.7 billion somoni ($498 million) in 2018, and it is planned to allocate almost 4 billion somoni ($423.7 million) for this purpose in 2019.

Earlier, the Government of Tajikistan signed an agreement with the Italian company Salini Impregilo on the Rogun HPP completion in the summer of 2017. According to the Tajik authorities, the amount of the agreement is $ 3.9 billion. Only $ 1.95 billion is required for the construction of the reservoir dam.

The Rogun HPP, the ninth in a row of a cascade of hydro power plants on the Vakhsh River, is located 110 kilometers from Dushanbe. According to the project, the HPP consists of six units, each of which has a capacity of 600 MW.

The height of the stone dam will be 335 meters, which is the highest in the world (in type). Rogun HPP itself, with a production capacity of 3,600 MW (more than 17 billion kW / h) of electricity, is considered the largest in the region.