Salini Impregilo, an Italian specialist in the construction and civil engineering business, has won a $3.9-billion contract from Tajikistan government to build a dam for the Rogun hydroelectric power plant.

The group has also been assigned the first lot of the work worth $1.95 billion, said a statement from Salini Impregilo.

The scope of work includes construction of a 335-m-high rockfill dam with a clay core, the tallest in the world, on the Vakhsh River. The dam will be located in Pamir, one of Central Asia's main mountain ranges.

The construction of Rogun on the Vakhsh river began in the 1970s when Tajikistan was a Soviet republic, but stopped in the 1990s when the Soviet Union broke apart.

The agreement between Salini Impregilo and OJSC (the state-run company that is co-ordinating the Rogun Hydropower Project) concerns the exploitation of the Pamir’s huge hydroelectric potential and includes four lots.

The three remaining lots are seen being assigned to the group by September 30, 2016.

Once completed, the plant will have six turbines of 600 MW each with a total installed capacity of 3,600 MW (the equivalent of three nuclear power plants).

According to Tajik officials, Rogun will double the country's energy production, strongly contributing to reducing power shortages suffered during the winter months when thousands of families need light and heating.

The project will also increase agricultural activity through irrigation thanks to a more efficient use of water.

The most significant impact will be to make Tajikistan a point of reference for the energy sector in the region. Pakistan and Afghanistan have already declared their intention to buy some of the energy to be produced by Rogun, and many more neighbouring countries are expected to do the same.

Together with the June 26 inauguration of the new Panama Canal, this contract confirms the leadership role in the water segment played by the group, which has built more than 250 dams throughout the world since its inception.-TradeArabia News Service