Pamir Energy Development

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The project is the rehabilitation, upgrading, and operation of existing power generation, transmission and distribution facilities in Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), Tajikistan -- currently operated by the national electrical utility Barki Tajik -- for a period of 25 years. The basic project concept was developed by IFC in conjunction with the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), which will be the controlling shareholder. Technical, economic, and environmental studies for the project were undertaken by Electrowatt-Ekono of Zurich, funded under IFC Swiss trust funds.The cornerstone of the project is the completion of the Pamir I run-of-river hydroelectric plant near Khorog, the administrative capital of GBAO, by installing two additional turbines to bring the installed capacity of the plant to the planned total of 28 MW; and building a regulating structure at Lake Yashilkul – the source of the Gunt River that powers the Pamir I plant – to allow release of additional water during the winter to ensure sufficient water flows for energy production. The Pamir I plant was largely constructed in the 1980s and the first two of four planned units were put into service in 1996.