World Bank will Allocate Additional $ 36.5 Million for Rehabilitation of Nurek Hydro Power Plant

The World Bank will allocate another $ 36.5 million for the rehabilitation of the Nurek HPP. The Government of Tajikistan and the International Development Association (IDA, a member of the World Bank Group) signed a corresponding grant agreement at the end of last year.

The other day the document was sent for ratification to the Parliament of the Republic of Tajikistan.

These funds will be used to implement the second phase of rehabilitation of the Nurek HPP.

Phase-I of the Nurek HPP rehabilitation project, financed by the World Bank ($ 225.7 million), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ($ 60 million) and the Eurasian Development Bank ($ 40 million), was launched in March 2019.

Within the framework of this phase, the following tasks were set:

• Overhaul of three of the nine hydroelectric units;
• Overhaul and replacement of hydromechanical equipment and key infrastructure components of the power plant;
• Replacement of six autotransformers that are used to divert generated electricity;
• Measures aimed at improving the safety level of the dam with special focus on protection against seismic hazards and floods.

Phase-II provides for the overhaul of the remaining six hydraulic units, the restoration of the Nurek road bridge, the repair of the hydroelectric power station building and other key structures. At the same time, the qualifications of the HPP personnel in the field of operation and maintenance will be improved.

The total cost of Phase II of the project is $ 192 million.

In accordance with the feasibility study, the total amount of reconstruction and renovation of the station was determined at about $ 700 million.

In general, to date, $ 326.9 million has been attracted - of which a loan of $ 169 million 134 thousand and a grant of $ 57 million 800 thousand from the World Bank, $ 60 million is a loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and $ 40 million is a loan from Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development.

The total duration of the rehabilitation project will be 10 years, it will be implemented in two stages.

It is expected that the design capacity of the Nurek HPP, after its complete rehabilitation, will increase by 10% - from 3000 MW to 3300 MW.