On April 25, the Founder of Peace and National Unity - Leader of the Nation, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Honorable Emomali Rahmon, visited the Sarband hydropower plant in the city of Levakant and put into operation the hydro unit No. 1 of this important energy facility of the country.

Hydro unit No. 1 of the power plant was put into use after renovation and modernization with a capacity of 39 MW.

Sarband hydropower plant with a design capacity of 240 MW is the 5th largest operating hydropower plant in the country on the Vakhsh River.

It should be noted that the construction of the Sarband HPP on the basis of the "Sharshara" power plant began as early as 1956, and its first hydro unit was put into operation in 1962. Due to long-term use, most of the electromechanical and hydromechanical equipment of the power plant and its open distribution devices were worn out.

Apart from the renovation of one hydro unit, no renovations were done in this power plant for 60 years, and its generation capacity was only 160 MW.

With this in mind, in 2013, a Grant Agreement for the amount of 136 million US dollars was signed between the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Asian Development Bank on the implementation of the project "Renovation of the Sarband HPP".

The purpose of the implementation of this project is to increase the generation capacity, to ensure the regular and efficient operation of the plant and to adapt it to modern technical standards.

According to the agreement, the project consists of two stages, the first stage of which includes the complete replacement of 5 units, 2 autotransformers, the construction of a new control building and other related works, and the second stage of the project includes the renovation of open distribution devices of 220/110 kilovolts.

The implementation of the first stage of the project "Renovation of the Sarband HPP with a capacity of 240MW" was undertaken by the contracting company "Sinohydro" of the People's Republic of China, at the first stage, completion of renovation works of hydraulic units No. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, water jets, compressed air system of the power plant, fire extinguishers, assembly of autotransformers AT-2, AT-3, construction of a new central building for power plant management, repair building of machine room, restoration of all lifting cranes of the power plant, construction works of the building of water and emergency oil separator, central distribution device, lighting system of the power plant, replacement of equipment in mechanical and electrical workshops, other auxiliary devices and equipment, and strengthening of the right bank of the connecting channel is planned.

Based on the instructions of the Honorable Leader of the Nation Emomali Rahmon, units, transformers and other new electrical equipment have been imported from Germany, Italy, India, China and Kazakhstan within the scope of this project.

President of the Republic of Tajikistan praised the quality of the completed works in the direction of reconstruction and modernization of the Sarband HPP.

During the conversation with employees and specialists, the Honorable Head of State Emomali Rahmon assessed the implementation of the "Renovation of the Sarband HPP" project as another stable and real step towards achieving one of the strategic goals of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan - securing complete energy independence of the country, which now after the complete renovation and modernization of the power plant will serve for many years with the production of environmentally friendly electricity in the further development of the national economy of independent Tajikistan.

According to LOT-1 of the Project "Rehabilitation of the Sarband HPP", after renovation and modernization, hydrounit No. 5 was commissioned in November 2018 with a capacity of 49MW, hydrounit No. 6 in August 2019 with a capacity of 49MW, hydrounit No. 2 in November 2020 with a capacity of 39MW, hydrounit No. 3 in March 2022 with a capacity of 49MW, and hydrounit No. 1 with a capacity of 39MW. We remind that the hydro unit No. 4 of the power plant with a capacity of 45 MW was completely renovated in 2012.

According to LOT-2 of the project, the contract for the restoration of 220 and 110 kilovolt electrical substations was signed by the "Barki Tojik" OJSC and the contracting company - Consortium "Genser-JI" of the Republic of Turkiye, and works in this direction fully completed.

In particular, restoration of open distribution devices of 220 kV and 110/35/6 kV, taking into account the complete replacement of their main and auxiliary equipment, such as the replacement of power transformers, voltage transformers, current transformers, complete distribution devices of 35/6 kilovolts, grease fittings, disconnectors, existing power transmission lines within the power plant and control buildings were implemented as elements of the second part of the project.

It should be emphasized that due to the old and worn-out electromechanical and hydromechanical equipment of the power plant, its average capacity was 160 MW before the start of the project. As a result of the implementation of the project "Rehabilitation of the hydroelectric power station "Sarband", the design capacity of the power plant has been increased from 240 MW to 270 MW, and the level of service in the power plant and the production and supply of electricity have been significantly increased.

Honorable Head of State Emomali Rahmon was informed that by April 20, 2023, 3 billion 132 million 724 thousand 560 kWh of electricity was produced in the power plant through the updated generators.

Today, there are 162 employees, including 25 women, in the Sarband hydropower plant, the engineering and technical staff is 75 people.

In order to ensure the safety and reliable use of the power plant, shore strengthening works are ongoing in the connecting canal, and from the level of 455 to 460.5 meters, concrete works in the amount of 1800 m3 with a length of 90 meters are planned. Now, the amount of works in this direction is 50%, and the concreting works in the amount of 1215 m3 have been completed.

During the years of independence, in order to implement the constructive plans and programs of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan under the governance of the Leader of the Nation, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Honorable Emomali Rahmon, in order to achieve complete energy independence, the rational and efficient use of the country's hydropower resources, the construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation of small and large hydropower plants was launched as well as high-voltage power transmission lines and substations were built.

All these constructive initiatives of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Honorable Emomali Rahmon, are aimed at the development and progress of the national economy of the country and thus ensuring a decent life for the Tajik people and even greater prosperity of independent Tajikistan.