On the 16th of November 2018 Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon Inaugurated the world’s tallest hydro-electric power plant project which will be completed within the next decade with a total expenditure of $3.9 billion. The power plant is expected to reach capacity of 3,600 megawatts the equivalent of three nuclear power plants. The Dam is being built on the powerful Vakhsh River in southern Tajikistan, it is expected to reach a height of 1,099 feet when completed, becoming the world’s tallest hydro-electric dam. The project is being overseen by the Italian company Salini Impregilo. When it reaches the planned height of 335 metres, Rogun will be 30 metres taller than the recently-built Jinping-I dam in China and 35 metres taller than Tajikistan’s own Soviet-era Nurek dam, also on the Vakhsh River
First of six turbines in the Rogun hydroelectric dam has gone online. The second turbine will be launched next year. The dam will double energy production in the poor ex-Soviet country of nearly nine million people, reducing the national energy deficit. It is planned that the Surplus energy will be sold to neighbors such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The country has gone ahead with the project despite repeated warnings about environmental ramifications. The dam is located in a highly seismic area, and several geological studies have warned about the risks of building such a large dam in this setting, but still the government is determined to bring it to completion.
