According to Tajik first deputy minister of energy and industry Pulod Muhiddinov, next month Tajikistan will begin exporting electricity to Afghanistan via the Sangtuda-Pol-e Khomri 220-kilovolt electricity transmission line.

Muhiddinov told journalists, "The construction of the Afghan section of this power line was delayed due to the unstable political situation in Afghanistan, whereas the Tajik side was ready last year. According to our agreements, the price of the Tajik electricity for Afghanistan will be 3.5 cents per 1 kilowatt hour and this price will be increasing by 2 per cent every year. Whereas the price of 1 kilowatt hour of Uzbek electricity for Afghanistan is 7-7.5 cents," Asia-Plus news agency reported.

Muhiddinov added that the Tajik government intended within two months to provide Afghanistan with maximum of 50-70 megawatts per hour (11 million kilowatts per day) instead of an earlier planned transmission of 150 megawatts per hour. Muhiddinov noted, "Tajikistan will not export electricity to the neighboring country (Afghanistan) in the autumn-winter period. We will think about year-round export of electricity only when the first unit of the Rogun hydroelectric power station is built."

The Rogun hydroelectric power station has raised fears among Tajikistan’s downstream neighbors, particularly Uzbekistan, that the filling of the facility’s reservoir and its operation will negatively affect discharges of water needed by neighboring Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan for crop production.

By. Charles Kennedy, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com

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