Tajikistan’s Ministry of Energy and Water Resources has signed a preliminary agreement with China’s Xinjiang Shouhai Power Development to evaluate the hydropower potential of the Obikhingou River, the ministry said in a statement.
The memorandum of understanding, signed by Energy Minister Daler Juma and company executive Chen Zhengjiang, aims to lay the groundwork for future hydropower plant construction. At the same event, the ministry signed a separate agreement with a consortium led by domestic company Avesto Group to upgrade the power distribution grid in the Sino district of the capital, Dushanbe. Financial terms and project schedules were not disclosed for either initiative.
The agreement marks a renewed focus on the Obikhingou River basin. In 2018, the energy ministry presented development plans for five potential stations along the waterway with a total planned capacity of 2,610 megawatts. The proposed projects included the 850-megawatt Urfatin facility, the 800-megawatt Sangvor plant, the 600-megawatt Shtien station, and two smaller installations at Nurobod with a combined capacity of 360 megawatts.
A group of investors from China, Iran, and Kazakhstan previously reviewed opportunities on the Obikhingou and Surkhob rivers in 2020, but those initiatives did not advance to construction. The ministry has not indicated whether Xinjiang Shouhai will rely on the 2018 technical data or commission a new feasibility study to establish updated development parameters for the river.
