Yavan Hydropower project
PROJECT DETAILS
Project name: Yavan Hydropower Project
Project location: Sughd Province, Tajikistan
Installed capacity: 100 MW
Project owner: OJSC “TAUZ Hydro”
ASSESSMENT DETAILS
Assessment type: Self-assessment (unofficial)
Assessment tool: Hydropower Sustainability Standard
Assessment stage: Preparation
Assessment date: 31 May – 5 June 2024
ASSESSORS FOR THIS PROJECT
Project background
The governments of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan have decided to develop and build jointly Yavan hydropower plant on the Zarafshan river basin in northern Tajikistan. An Open Joint-Stock Company, TAUZ Hydro, was created for its development and construction.
As part of the capacity building programme in Tajikistan, HSA has conducted a self-assessment of the Yavan project to build regional expertise on the use of the HS Standard at an early stage to influence project planning. The assessment team consisted of experts from hydropower developers, construction and design companies and government representatives from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and lead by the Accredited Lead Assessor Joerg Hartmann.
ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW
The assessment showed that it should be possible to design, build and operate the Yavan HPP with acceptable environmental, social and governance impacts and risks. The project has a relatively small footprint, most of which is in a narrow canyon with few human uses, and thus will cause limited displacement. It is likely going to be operated in a run-of-river mode. A number of issues remain to be researched in detail, however, such as erosion and sedimentation impacts, aquatic biodiversity, corporate governance, operating mode and climate change impacts. The assessment provided a good foundational understanding of sustainability principles and will further influence the project feasibility and environmental and social impact assessment studies.
The self-assessment was organised with the help of Tauz Hydro, Pamir Energy and the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan with the support of the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
Unofficial assessment
Unofficial assessments are meant to support company learning, capacity building and to prepare for official certification assessments. Unofficial assessments are typically conducted internally within the companies, not by Accredited Assessors, and often not publicised.
Please note that the format of this report does not follow the HS Standard Preparation reporting template as the project was at pre-feasibility level with limited information available and most members of the assessment team had limited previous experience with sustainability issues and are not Accredited Assessors on the use of the HS Standard.
