Can Tajikistan Trust Micro-Hydropower?

Emomali Rakhmon likes dazzling figures: the height of Tajikistan’s newest flagpole; the record-breaking weight of the latest cotton harvest; and the number of small hydroelectric power projects popping up around his country.

Last month, the Tajik president boasted that 250 small- and medium-sized hydropower plants have opened “in recent years” and another 190 are on their way, the state-run Khovar news agency quoted him as saying. In fact, 23 have been built so far in 2011, according to government figures released last week.

These figures may help ease the pain of earlier-than-normal electricity rationing. In September, authorities announced rolling blackouts, not only for remote areas, but also for Dushanbe, the capital. The blackouts are common in winter, when water levels drop in rivers, leaving some areas with only 2-4 hours of electricity per day. But they usually start in October or November.

So a recent Asia-Plus report must be a buzz kill.

Shodi Shabdolov, a member of parliament’s Committee on Energy, Industry and Construction, told Asia-Plus that more than half of Tajikistan’s small hydropower plants built since independence are not functioning. Shabdolov blamed “dishonest persons” for taking money from international organizations and installing “obsolete equipment that breaks down.” He proposed increasing construction regulations.

As EurasiaNet.org reported on October 18, only one of Tajikistan’s 340 small hydropower plants is connected to the electricity grid (the rest, presumably, only provide electricity on local networks, if they function at all) according to the United Nations. The state energy monopoly, Barqi Tojik, is not connecting the newly built energy stations to the national grid, even though it estimates a winter energy deficit of 2 billion kWh.

If he’s looking to regulate something, maybe Shabdolov could push Barqi Tojik to start distributing the little electricity Tajikistan has.