Tajikistan reports record electricity generation in 2022

By BBC Monitoring

Tajikistan generated a record amount of electricity in 2022, the privately-owned Tajik news agency Asia-Plus reported on 30 January.

The minister of energy and water resources of Tajikistan, Daler Juma, reported the record amount of electricity output at a news conference on 30 January, and said that electricity generation amounted to 21,399,500,000 kWh.

"Last year electricity generation amounted to over 21.3bn kWh for the first time in the country's history. This is the highest figure in the history of the country's energy system. At the same time, the daily consumption this winter amounted to 81m kWh, which is the highest figure in the last decade," the agency quoted the minister as saying.

Daler Juma said that during the January cold spells not only Tajikistan but the entire Central Asia experienced problems with electricity supplies. However, the country's energy system managed to fully provide the population with electricity, he added.

"The record growth in electricity generation comes at a time when the population complains about restrictions in electricity supplies," the news agency noted.

However, the minister maintained that "accidents were the cause of power cuts".

During the peak of the cold weather, President Emomali Rahmon ordered the Barqi Tojik state power supply company to lift restrictions on power distribution. "However, approximately ten days after Emomali Rahmon's instructions residents of various districts started complaining about multiple cases of power cuts," the news agency noted.

The minister said that Tajikistan exported 2,557,600,000 kWh of electricity in 2022, which was an increase of 118.4m kWh, or a 105% increase year on year. Tajikistan mainly exports its electricity to Afghanistan.

Daler Juma and Mahmadumar Asozoda, head of the Barqi Tojik company, did not disclose the amount and price of electricity exported to Afghanistan in 2022 and the outstanding debt of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) to Barqi Tojik, the agency said.

"It should be noted that earlier the amount and price of electricity sold to the Afghan company, as well as the amount of its debt owed to Barqi Tojik, were not hidden," the agency said.

Source: Asia-Plus news agency website, Dushanbe, in Russian 1300 gmt 30 Jan 23