News Archive Article

People urged to chip in for power project

DUSHANBE, TAJIKISTAN - The impoverished Central Asian nation of Tajikistan urged its people to give up their salaries to help build a new hydroelectric plant.

Millions of people in the Muslim nation north of Afghanistan struggled without heating and electricity during a record-cold winter this year, prompting the government to speed up efforts to finish the construction of the Rogun power plant.

Makhmadsaid Ubaidulloyev, speaker of the upper house of parliament, said the government could raise about $10 million for its construction if all residents of the capital Dushanbe were to give up half their wages in May and June.

"Makhmadsaid Ubaidulloyev appealed on all companies to transfer 50 percent of employees' salaries to help Rogun's construction," said Shavkat Saidov, a Dushanbe city spokesman.

One of the world's poorest countries, where the average monthly wage is about $63, estimates the cost of completing Rogun at between $1.3 and $3.2 billion.

Saidov said the measure was voluntary but some people said they feared that the money would be withdrawn automatically.

"Who is going to ask us? They will take it out of our salaries and that's it," said Nagina, a mother of three who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The Rogun plant, started in Soviet times but never finished, is key to Tajikistan's goal to become a significant regional electricity exporter and raise aluminum production.

Related News

solar power solution

Norway Considers Curbing Electricity Exports to Avoid Shortages

OSLO - Norway, one of Europe’s biggest electricity exporters, is considering measures to limit power shipments to prevent domestic shortages amid surging prices, according to local media reports.

The government may propose a rule to limit exports if the water level for Norway’s hydro reservoirs drops to “very low” levels, to ensure security of supply, said Energy Minister Terje Aasland, according NTB newswire. The limit would take account of seasonality and would differ across the about 1,800 hydro reservoirs, he said. 

Russia’s gas supply cuts in retaliation for European sanctions over the war in Ukraine have triggered the continent’s worst energy crisis…

READ MORE
enel wind farm

Enel Starts Operations of 450 MW Wind Farm in U.S

READ MORE

Ontario Reducing Burden on Industrial Electricity Ratepayers

READ MORE

Solar Power Batteries

Cheap at Last, Batteries Are Making a Solar Dream Come True

READ MORE

amazon wind power

Amazon Announces Three New Renewable Energy Projects to Support AWS Global Infrastructure

READ MORE