Tajikistan - Energy and power

More than 95% of Tajikistan's electricity production is hydropower, provided by a series of dams and reservoirs on mountain rivers. As of 2002 seven large hydroelectric facilities produced most of the country's power. Two major facilities on the Vakhsh River have attracted aluminum, chemical, and other energy-intensive industries oriented toward inexpensive energy. The Qayroqqum Dam on the Syrdar'ya River in the north (which forms a reservoir known as the "Tajik Sea") has a hydroelectric station that provides energy for the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan. Further expansion of hydroelectric power was planned, especially around Khojand, with the potential of exporting energy to Pakistan. In 2001, total installed electrical capacity was 4,443,000 kW. Production of electricity in 2000 amounted to 14 billion kWh, of which 98% was from hydropower and 2% from fossil fuels. Consumption of electricity in 2000 was 12.5 billion kWh.

Brown coal, though declining in production, is mined in the northeast and shipped by rail to Dushanbe; coal production totaled about 22,000 tons in 2000. Natural gas is extracted from fields in the lower Kakhsh and elsewhere; reserves have been estimated at about 5.7 billion cu m, but production has been minimal. Tajikistan also has small deposits of petroleum, estimated at 12 million barrels in 2002; production in 2001 amounted to only about 350 barrels per day, contrasted with consumption of 29,000 barrels per day in the same year. Tajikistan opened its first oil refinery, with a capacity of 400 barrels per day, in 2001.