World Bank to allocate $31.7 mln to provide electricity for vulnerable communities in Tajikistan’s remote regions

AKIPRESS.COM - The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors this month has approved the financing of $31.7 million for the Tajikistan Rural Electrification Project (TREP), according to the World Bank Country Office in Tajikistan, Asia - Plus reports.
The financing has reportedly been provided from the International Development Association's (IDA) pilot Risk Mitigation Regime.
"As one of four countries globally, that benefits from additional IDA resources earmarked to strengthen the economy's resilience to fragility risks, this project supports the provision of most critical local infrastructure to villages in most difficult conditions at several thousand meters above sea level," said Jan-Peter Olters, World Bank Country Manager for Tajikistan. "By connecting to local and central grids all current villages in the country's two provinces along the border with Afghanistan, health outcomes, living conditions, and economic opportunities of the households living in the harshest conditions will improve tangibly and sustainably,"
The Tajikistan Rural Electrification Project will finance the construction of electricity generation and distribution infrastructure to provide off-grid solutions or connect to the central grid vulnerable communities in Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) and southern Khatlon province. In Khatlon, over 31,000 people living in 74 settlements in the poorest areas along the border with Afghanistan will be connected to the electricity grid, while over 11,500 residents residing in 61 largely scattered and remote settlements in GBAO will be connected to locally generated electricity.
The project will support additional studies required for the construction of the Sebzor Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), located in GBAO. The 11 MW Sebzor HPP, with estimated annual electricity generation of 74.5 million kWh and construction costs of $33.7 million, will help to meet the electricity demand of target communities in GBAO and the export demand from the Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan.
The World Bank's active portfolio in Tajikistan includes 17 projects, with net commitments of $683 million. The new Country Partnership Framework for 2019-23 aims at helping Tajikistan to take advantage of emerging opportunities, transforming its economy, and improving the livelihoods of its citizens.