Russia backs development of Tajikistan hydro-power plant

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently unveiled a huge hydropower plant in the impoverished ex-Soviet nation of Tajikistan that Moscow hopes will help further boost its economic clout across Central Asia, reported Daily Commercial News.

Russia owns a 75 per cent stake in Sangtuda-1, which was built in a river valley about 55 miles (90 kilometres) north of Afghanistan.

During the opening ceremony, Medvedev and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rakhmon, turned a key to light up a grid illustrating areas of the country to be supplied by the plant.

When it reaches its designed capacity, the plant is expected to provide up to 12 per cent of annual electricity production in Tajikistan, which suffers from chronic power shortages in the winter.

Tajikistan, with its economy ruined by civil war in the mid-1990s, has pinned its hopes on new hydropower plants built with financial and technical assistance from Russia. Authorities believe new facilities could eventually enable Tajikistan to satisfy its own energy demands and also allow the sale of power to nearby countries.

As the main stakeholder in Sangtuda-1 and the financial backer for other proposed energy projects, Russia stands to be the primary beneficiary of the development and sale of hydropower in the region.