Tajikistan increases electricity supplies to neighboring countries

According to data from the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, Tajikistan last month exported US$2.7 million worth of electricity, which is US$700,000 more than in October. 

The Agency for Statistics does not indicate to which countries Tajik electricity was supplied.  Meanwhile, Tajikistan has supplied electricity to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan in recent years.  

Over the past eleven months of this year, Tajikistan has reportedly made more than US$53 million from export of electricity, which is 41.9 percent or US$38.2 million less than in the same period last year.  

Recall, a statement released by Barqi Tojik (Tajik national power utility company) on December 9 said that all regions of the country will have regular electricity supplies beginning on December 10.  Barqi Tojik called on residential customers to use energy efficiently and notes that this year the snow cover in the upper reaches of the country's rivers is 44 percent less than in 2019. 

Barqi Tojik spokesman Nozirjon Yodgori had earlier told Asia-Plus that there had been problems with the delivery of equipment and spare parts for energy facilities from foreign countries to Tajikistan due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He also denied rumors that Tajikistan is continuing to supply electricity to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan despite shortage of electricity to meet its own requirements in electricity as absolutely baseless.

“We supply electricity to neighboring countries only in summer and early autumn.  This year, we stopped to supply electricity to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan in summer due to lack of water in order to fill the reservoir powering the Nurek hydroelectric power plant (HPP),” Yodgori said.  

Some rural areas in Tajikistan currently have electricity only several hours per day.

Barqi Tojik, however, denies it is implementing a rationing regime, saying only that power is disconnected intermittently because of ongoing repairs at the Nurek hydroelectric station, which provides much of the country’s electricity needs, and sub-stations. 

Meanwhile, sources close to the country’s hydropower sector say restrictions on the supply of electricity have been imposed due to drop in water levels in the reservoir powering the Nurek HPP, because they did not stock up on the required amount of water in the summer, carrying out idle spillways at the request of neighboring countries during the irrigation season.  

In accordance with the agreement concluded with the neighboring, Tajikistan supplies electricity to the neighboring countries only during the April-October period.  Tajikistan has sufficient summer-time (defined as May 1 to September 30) hydropower surpluses to export to the neighboring countries. 

Hydropower is the main source of energy in Tajikistan, followed by imported oil, gas and coal.