Iran inaugurates hydropower plant in Tajikistan

Rouhani and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon led the inauguration of the second turbine at Sangtuda-2 hydropower plant via videoconference in the Tajik capital city of Dushanbe on Wednesday.

“We are delighted to announce that one of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s engineering efforts is bearing fruit in this country, and a hydropower plant is being inaugurated,” Rouhani said at the ceremony.

“However, this inauguration does not mean that this is the end of the road, but it means the start of cooperation between the two countries in different economic sectors,” he added.

The construction of the plant, which is expected to generate 1 billion kilowatts/hour of electricity a year, started in March 2007. Iran has invested USD 180 million dollars in the plant which will be fully handed over to Tajikistan after being used by Iran for 12.5 years.

The first unit of Sangtuda-2, built over the Vakhsh River, south of Dushanbe, was launched in 2011 by Iran’s then president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rouhani traveled to Tajikistan for a three-day visit on Wednesday to participate at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Rouhani and Rahmon held talks in the Tajik capital and presided over the signature of nine agreements in the fields of science, industry, economy and technology.

The SCO is an intergovernmental organization that was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Iran along with four other countries holds observer status in the organization.