Homemade Hydro Power Lights Up Tajikistan

Tajikistan’s eastern Gorno-Badakhshan region had until recently largely escaped the energy crisis gripping the rest of the country. But on the night of February 5 the lights went off following an accident at the local power station that flooded the turbine room and shut down vital equipment. It’s not yet clear how long it will take to fix the damage though officials have promised some service by mid-March.

In the meantime, electricity is restricted to three hours a day in the region’s administrative centre Khorog. Schools, factories and construction projects have shut down and bread shortages have been reported. Residents are coping with freezing winter temperatures by chopping down trees to burn as fuel and sending children to stay with relatives with wood burning stoves.

…Such hardships have forced Tajiks living in rural communities to take matters into their own hands. Some villagers in isolated and mountainous regions have built mini-hydroelectric stations which can provide electricity for an entire village.

Ustokadam Saodatkadamov built one out of used car parts and it now provides electricity to 30 homes in the Shugnan region’s Bachid village in Gorno-Badakhshan.

IWPR