President: Rogun Dam will ensure full energy independence of Tajikistan

Tajikistan will achieve full energy independence by 2027, President Emomali Rahmon said in his message to parliament. He said that the construction of the Rogun Dam has been completed by more than 50%.

According to him, over the past two years, over 9 billion somoni ($825 million) has been allocated from the state budget of Tajikistan for the implementation of this strategically important project.

The President thanked international financial organizations and other development partners for supporting the further completion of the Rogun Dam.

He stressed that for the completion of this important facility, nine agreements have already been concluded with six donors totaling 10 billion somoni (about $ 915 million), of which more than 3 billion ($275 million) are provided in the form of grants.

Emomali Rahmon called this support and attention “very important for the people of Tajikistan.”

Financing of the next stage of construction is planned for 2025.

It is the completion of the Rogun Dam that will ensure Tajikistan’s energy independence by 2027.

“Perhaps this is the last winter when you are going through a similar situation. These difficulties will decrease in the coming winter, and in 2027 this situation will remain in history,” Emomali Rahmon said.

It should be noted that until now the financing of the construction of Rogun is carried out exclusively at the expense of public funds.

The Government of Tajikistan expected to allocate 5 billion somoni (about $460 million) for the implementation of the Rogun project this year. For 9 months of this year, 4.3 billion somoni (about $395 million) was allocated for the construction of Rogun.

In general, more than 40 billion somoni were allocated for the construction of this facility.

Earlier, the president said that the next hydroelectric unit of the Rogun Dam is planned to be commissioned in 2025.

The first two units of the station, which are currently operating at low power, were commissioned in 2018 and 2019.

In general, 6 units with a capacity of 600 MW each will be installed in the engine room of the station. The launch of the last unit is expected in 2029.

With an installed capacity of 3,600 MW, the Rogun Dam is expected to become the largest hydroelectric power station in Central Asia.

After full commissioning, the annual volume of electricity generation will range from 13 to 17 billion kWh, which is equivalent to 65-85% of the annual electricity generation in the country.

We need another $6.4 billion

For the complete completion of the Rogun Dam project for the period up to 2035, $6.4 billion is needed. This is stated in the Justification of Tajikistan’s sovereign rating by the international rating agency Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings.

The rating is prepared on the basis of official information provided to the agency by the relevant ministries and departments of the country.

The document notes that the Government of Tajikistan is negotiating with a consortium of multilateral and bilateral creditors to provide it with a financing package that will cover about 50% of these costs, and another half of the financing is expected to come from the state budget and from the revenues of the Dam under construction.

“The preliminary external financing package includes $1.73 billion in the form of semi—long-term loans, $850 million in the form of grants and $390 million in the form of concessional loans,” S&P analysts emphasize.

S&P specialists emphasize that the Rogun Dam already generates electricity in the amount of about 10-15% of the total capacity. They expect that the proceeds from the sale of electricity will amount to $1.1 billion in 2024-2035. and will be invested in the further construction of this Dam.

How did the cost of the Rogun Dam change

In 2008, when the implementation of the Rogun project was resumed, its cost was estimated at $ 3 billion.

In 2016, during the international tender for the selection of a general contractor for the construction of the dam, the cost of the facility was announced at $3.9 billion.

In 2022, the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Tatarstan announced that it would take over $5 billion to complete the Rogun.

In early February 2023, the energy department announced that, according to the latest estimates, $6.2 billion would be required to complete the construction of this station.

At the same time, during this period, more than 40 billion somoni (about $ 4 billion) were allocated for the completion of Rogun, including through the sale of shares of OJSC Rogun Dam (890 million somoni), Eurobonds ($500 million), and the rest – at the expense of the state budget. 

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