KHUJAND, Tajikistan -- A new electricity line connecting Tajikistan's northern regions with the south will start operating on November 1, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.
The Sughd Province has been dependent on the Soviet-era energy supply system that has provided electricity from neighboring Uzbekistan via southern Tajikistan for decades.
Faizullo Avazov, the director of the Qairoqum hydropower station, told RFE/RL that the new 500-kilovolt power line will add significantly to Tajikistan's energy security.
Qairoqum produces only 20 percent of Sughd's electricity needs. But Inom Sanginov, the deputy chief of Sughd's electricity supply system, said the new power supply system is not enough to reduce the region's dependence on imported energy.
He added that rationing of electricity this year is likely.