State of equipment at Tajik hydropower plants inspected

DUSHANBE, August 27 (Itar-Tass) -- Tajik power engineers began
inspecting the state of equipment at all thermal- and hydropower plants on
the territory of the republic, Sanat Rakhimov, the head of the Barki Tojik
state-owned energy company, told Itar-Tass on Thursday. He stressed that a
major technogenic accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant,
the oldest in Russia, suggested facing the problem.
"Tajikistan has several hydropower plants as old as the
Sayano-Shushenskaya plant that have been operating for several decades
without stoppage," Rakhimov said. He pointed to the Kairakkum hydropower
plant in north Tajikistan that went into operation back in the 50s of the
20th century, and to the Nurek hydropower plant, the major all-union
construction project of the 70s, that has ten hydroelectric units with the
total capacity of 2,700 megawatt and the 300-metre-high dam, the highest
in the region.
"Working groups of experienced power engineers set up under the
minister's directive will check the technical state of these plants, the
wear of metal, and the results of the checks must indicate where
preventive work or repair are needed," Rakhimov said. "In the days of the
tragedy at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant we have not only
expressed condolences but also offered specific assistance of experienced
power engineers," Rakhimov said. He stressed that close ties had been
maintained between power engineers at the Nurek and Sayano-Shushenskaya
plants over many years.
Planned replacement of hydroelectric equipment, including turbines, is
now underway at the Nurek plant. The Nurek hydropower plant is the biggest
energy supplier in the country producing on an average 11.2 billion
kilowatt/hours of electricity annually.
-0-saf/ast