FLOOD SHUTS DOWN TAJIKISTAN'S PAMIR I POWER STATION

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000199 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USAID FOR EGAT/I&E/E E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EAID ENRG TI SUBJECT: FLOOD SHUTS DOWN TAJIKISTAN'S PAMIR I POWER STATION REF: A) 06 DUSHANBE 1594 B) 05 DUSHANBE 1553 ¶1. (SBU) Pamir Energy, the Aga Khan-supported energy company that serves Tajikistan's remote Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, suffered a major disruption February 5 when the powerhouse at Pamir I hydro power station flooded, causing local employees to shut down the 28 MW station (and run for their lives). Munir Merali, Resident Representative for the Aga Khan Development Network in Tajikistan, told PolOff a team of experts was already en route to the regional capital Khorog February 6 to conduct an initial assessment, but the power station was expected to remain offline for a few months, leaving Pamir Energy with only 9 MW of electricity from its Khorog hydropower station to distribute to customers. ¶2. (SBU) Merali reported that the turbines appeared to be undamaged, but they would need to replace most of the wiring before the station could go online. Although the cause of the flooding remains unclear, Pamir I engineers on site proposed several hypotheses, ranging from a problem in one of the two penstocks that direct water from the holding reservoirs to the power station, to a broken protective structure above the power house. Pamir Energy's Swiss insurance company is also sending specialists to assess the damage. ¶3. (SBU) Merali met with Deputy Prime Minister Asadullo Ghulomov (whose portfolio includes both energy policy and emergency response) February 6 to ensure timely government assistance. Pamir Energy officials in Khorog are working with the Gorno-Badakhshan governor Qodir Qosimov to establish a rationing schedule for electricity in the region. (Note: Just one week earlier, the Tajik media quoted Qosimov calling the top leadership of Pamir Energy "incompetent" at a press conference and criticizing the high salaries of the expatriate directors. End note.) Merali expressed confidence that Pamir Energy would be able to find the best interim solution in the remaining weeks of winter. ¶4. (SBU) Pamir Energy is Tajikistan's first public-private energy joint venture, financed by a consortium of Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED),the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, World Bank, and the Swiss government (ref A). Pamir Energy generates electricity in a remote region containing only five percent of Tajikistan's population and cut off from Tajikistan's main electrical grid. Pamir Energy significantly increased the electricity supply in Gorno-Badakhshan by doubling the power at Pamir I in October 2005 and rehabilitating the Khorog station, but has encountered numerous problems collecting fees from customers and has received little support from the local government for its cost recovery efforts. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Thanks to Pamir Energy, until February 5, Gorno-Badakhshan was the only region in Tajikistan outside Dushanbe with 24/7 electricity in the winter. Before the revamped Pamir I came online two years ago, the lights in Khorog worked only a few hours in the morning or the evening (ref B). The government may declare a state of emergency to deal with the immediate effects of the power shortage, but the conditions in Gorno-Badakhshan now mirror those in large areas of Tajikistan, where many people have not had any electricity for months. As a private company trying to function in a tough environment, Pamir Energy likely has some difficult days ahead. End Comment. JACOBSON