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Tajikistan’s government has approved a draft agreement to supply electricity from the Rogun Hydropower Plant to Uzbekistan at a fixed price of 3.4 US cents per kilowatt-hour, including value-added tax at a zero rate. The deal marks a significant step in energy cooperation between the two neighbours as Rogun — still under construction — edges closer to becoming Central Asia’s most powerful hydroelectric facility.
Under the agreement, the volume and timing of deliveries will be coordinated between OJSC Rogun HPP on the Tajik side and JSC Uzenergosotish, Uzbekistan’s electricity trading company, with scheduling tied specifically to peak demand periods in Uzbekistan’s power system. The price will be indexed upward by one percent annually beginning in the second year of the contract.
Until construction of the plant is fully complete, supplies will run only during the growing season — from 1 April to 30 September each year. Once Rogun reaches its full projected capacity of 3,600 megawatts, the two sides are to transition to year-round deliveries. The agreement carries a term of 20 years and renews automatically every 10 years thereafter.
Rogun’s electricity will flow to Uzbekistan in parallel with existing imports from Barki Tojik, Tajikistan’s state energy company, meaning the new arrangement supplements rather than replaces current cross-border supply channels.
Construction at Rogun, located on the Vakhsh River in southern Tajikistan, resumed in 2016 after years of delays and geopolitical disputes. When finished, the dam is projected to stand as the tallest in the world and to generate 3,600 megawatts — a capacity that would dwarf any other hydroelectric installation in the region. The plant has long been a cornerstone of Tajikistan’s ambition to become a major electricity exporter, and agreements with neighbouring countries are central to that strategy.
For Uzbekistan, which faces recurring electricity shortfalls during summer months when agricultural irrigation drives peak demand, the seasonal supply window aligns directly with the period of greatest strain on its grid. The 3.4-cent tariff, with its modest annual escalation clause, provides both sides with a degree of price predictability over the contract’s two-decade horizon.