Tajikistan bags $21m grant for renewable energy expansion

This will help upgrade a 240-MW hydropower plant.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted Tajikistan a $21m additional financing to expand the country’s clean energy by modernising its Golovnaya hydropower plant.

In a statement, ADB said the funding will replace the power generation unit 4 at the hydropower plant. Unit 4, which was not part of ADB’s original project approved in 2013, ceased operations in 2019 due to damage in its mechanical equipment.

The replacement will increase the capacity of the hydropower plant from 240 megawatts (MW) to 274 MW by 2026. 

In the original project, ADB provided a $136m grant to replace five of the plant’s six power generation units. It also rehabilitated switchyards at the Golovnaya hydropower plant, modernised the Vose substation, and constructed the Rudaki substation and a transmission line connecting the Rudaki and Vose substations in southern Tajikistan.

“The electricity from the Golovnaya hydropower plant goes to national and regional grids, benefiting Tajikistan and neighbouring countries,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “ADB’s support improves regional energy security, contributing to inclusive, sustainable economic growth and balanced regional development.”