Tajik, Chinese companies sign deals to build two power lines in Tajikistan

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (The Associated Press) - Apr 20, 2006

Tajikistan's national electric power company signed deals with a Chinese company to build two power transmission lines in this ex-Soviet republic, an official said Thursday.

Under the contracts signed Wednesday, Barki Tojik and the China Theban Electric Apparatus Stock, will build a 350-kilometer (220-mile) power line, linking the country's north with the south, and another 95-kilometer (60-mile) line in a southern region, Tajik Energy Ministry spokesman Nozirjon Yodgori.

The lines will have an annual capacity of 500 and 220 kilowatts respectively, he said.

China's Eximbank will provide 95 percent of the combined US$340 million (euro275 million) cost of the projects and the remaining 5 percent will be provided by the Tajik government, Yodgori said.

The impoverished mountainous Central Asian nation actively seeks foreign investment to develop its electric power industry as it pursues plans to become a regional electricity supplier using its huge hydropower resources.