The project is designed to allow Tajikistan to meet its own power demands and be able to sell electricity to neighbouring countries. Initial work began in 1987 but was suspended because of the Tajik civil war, and a lack of funds. Tajikistan and Iran have now decided to begin construction of the power plant by forming an international consortium and attracting other countries' credits.
The US$520M, four-year Sangtuda project includes two hydroelectric power stations, the Sangtuda 1 and Sangtuda 2, located 200km south of Dushanbe on the Vaksh river. The project will cost over US$500M to complete.
