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TAJIKISTAN
ROGUN DAM
Rogun, the Dam of Records
Tajikistan’s is putting its faith in a dam for its energy future.
The tallest in the world and the most powerful in the region, it will double the country’s energy production.
Its name is Rogun and it is a project to take advantage of the enormous hydroelectric potential of Tajikistan,
which rises from the ashes of the former Persian Empire is situated between the Trans-Alay Range to the north
and the Pamir Mountains to south.
The $3.9 billion project will be built by Salini Impregilo, world leader in the water segment of the infrastructure
industry, after a long period of negotiations and a visit by Tajikistan government officials to the big dams being
built by the Group in Ethiopia.
The Project
Exploiting the hydroelectric potential of the Pamirs, which bring together some of the most majestic mountains
of Central Asia (some standing more than 5,000 metres above sea level), diverting the Vakhsh River and finally
building a dam 335 metres high with rockfill and a clay core is a huge undertaking. The many unprecedented
aspects of the project make it complex, but its impact on the country’s development will nevertheless be
enormous.
For all of these reasons, the Rogun HPP project was divided into four lots comprising the entire work, from the
dam to the hydroelectric plant. The first lots foresee the diversion of the Vakhsh River that will be done with
confluence of two diversion tunnels in a mountainside in order to keep the foundations of the dam dry. It is a
very complex task that, because of the strength of the river, will only be able to be done during the winter months
when the mountains are covered in snow and the water level is lower.
Once completed, the plant’s energy will be produced by six turbines of 600 MW each that will have an installed
power of 3,600 MW (the equivalent of three nuclear plants) when operating at full capacity.
Rogun’s Impact
In a country that has little more than eight million
inhabitants, where only 7% of the land is arable and about
one million people work abroad and send home
remittances to support their families, the impact of a
project of this kind could be decisive in terms of economic
development.
First, Rogun HPP is essential to reduce the lack of energy
that occurs in winter and affects thousands of families and
their need for light and heating. The project could
contribute to the development of agriculture because it
would allow for a more efficient use of water for irrigation.
But the biggest impact that the new dam will have will be
on the country’s energy potential, allowing Tajikistan to become a point of reference in the region. Pakistan and
Afghanistan have already offered to buy part of the energy produced by Rogun and other nearby countries will
likely do the same. Proof of this is the fact that a few weeks ago a parallel project was launched to modernize
the power grid linking Tajikistan to Pakistan, an additional way of taking Rogun’s electricity outside the country.
APPENDIX
Country Profile
Tajikistan is a mountainous country in Central Asia that used to be part of the Soviet Union. Its capital is
Dushanbe. Its population totaled 8.5 million in 2015.
The country is surrounded by Kyrgyzstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Afghanistan to the south and China
to the east.
Its economy is based on mining for silver, gold, uranium and other metals, as well as agriculture, which produces
mostly cotton.
Most of its electricity is generated from hydro plants.
It is described as a lower middle income country by the World Bank, which cites inadequate infrastructure and,
in particular, insufficient and unreliable energy supply as an obstacle to the development of the economy to
reduce poverty.
About 70 percent of the country’s population suffers from electricity shortages during winter months, according
to the World Bank. The shortages during this season are estimated to be at least 2,000 GWh, or 20% of demand.
Tajikistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) was valued at $9.2 billion in 2014.