The Nurek hydropower plant is Tajikistan’s main source of power, producing around 60% of the nation’s electricity.
The Asian Development Bank helped Tajikistan upgrade and modernize this vital infrastructure with a new state-of-the-art switchyard, providing a more reliable and stable energy supply that supports economic growth in the country and its neighbors.
Transcript
Nurek District, Tajikistan – 70 kilometers south of Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe stands a massive 3,000 megawatt hydropower plant, the largest in Central Asia.
Water is plentiful in Tajikistan, and the Nurek hydropower plant generates nearly 60 per cent of the country’s electricity and allows it to export power to its neighboring countries.
The Asian Development Bank helped Tajikistan modernize this crucial infrastructure.
“The 500-kilovolt switchyard worked for over 40 years, until large parts of the ground sank,” says Kiromiddin Akbarov, Deputy Chief Engineer at the Nurek Hydropower Plant.
In its place, a new 500-kilovolt switchyard was built. The new switchyard is housed inside a facility and is much smaller than its predecessor and uses state-of-the-art technology. It is also fully automated and largely maintenance-free.
The Asian Development Bank funded the construction of the new switchyard with a $55 million grant. The new switchyard enables the hydropower plant to supply electricity 24/7, making winter power shortages a thing of the past. There is now enough electricity to meet the country’s needs.
And in the summer Tajikistan generates surplus power to export to neighboring countries to help fuel their economic growth.
