The Integrated Hydropower Sustainability Assessment in Tajikistan: A Case Study of Rogun Hydropower Plant

Table 1

The checklist for hydropower sustainability assessment in Tajikistan.

Performance indicators		Content	References
Economic aspect
EC1	Project economic evaluation	(i) Whether a wide range of factors has been considered, including sensitivity analysis?; (ii) Whether to publicly disclose the results of economic viability analysis?; (iii) Whether the project has a net benefit?	[52]
EC2	Financial viability	(i) Are the sources of project costs and benefits described in detail, including risk assessment, scenario testing, and sensitivity analysis?; (ii) Whether the financing method is feasible?; (iii) Whether to pay for all plans and commitments, including social and environmental aspects?; (iv) What is the impact of the project on the macroeconomy?	[44, 52, 53]
Environmental aspect
EN1	Environmental management plan	(i) Has an environmental management plan been established?; (ii) Is the plan comprehensive?; (iii) Is it publicly available?	[29, 54]
EN2	Environment impact assessment (EIA)	(i) Whether the EIA is true and comprehensive?; (ii) Have local stakeholders been consulted?; (iii) Does the EIA establish alternatives (including no dam and multiple site selection options)?; (iv) Is the EIA public or at least available?	[39]
EN3	Biodiversity	(i) Does the project affect habitats with high biodiversity value?; (ii) Does the project have a plan to avoid or reduce impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems?	[52, 54]
EN4	Pollution prevention measures	(i) Does the project have a management and monitoring plan?; (ii) What efforts have been made to avoid and reduce pollution?	[29]
EN5	Soil erosion and sedimentation	(i) Does the project consider possible soil erosion and sedimentation problems?; (ii) What measures have been implemented to deal with soil erosion and sedimentation?	[39]
EN6	Environmental basic flow assessment	(i) Has the project conducted an environmental basic flow assessment and established a standard for discharge flow?	[39, 52, 55]
Social aspect
SO1	Resettlement	(i) Whether the resettlement complies with the principle of “compensation before placement?”; (ii) Does the company adopt the principle of Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC)?; (iii) Does the resettlement improve living standards and provide appropriate economic compensation?	[5, 29, 48]
SO2	Social impact assessment (SIA)	(i) Is the SIA detailed and comprehensive?; (ii) Is the SIA consistent with the fact, and has it solicited opinions from local stakeholders and regulators?	[56]
SO3	Communication and negotiation	(i) Has the project established a communication and consultation system with the local community?; (ii) How many public participation meetings have the project held?; (iii) Has a dispute and appeal mechanism been established?; (iv) How many major disputes have been reported and resolved through the mechanism?	[54]
SO4	Benefit-sharing	(i) Does the project have benefit-sharing other than one-time compensation?	[2, 22, 29]
Risk management
RI1	Corruption	(i) Are there policies to mitigate the risks of corruption?; (ii) Whether the procurement process is fair, transparent, and accountable?	[29, 57]
RI2	Transboundary river governance	(i) Does the project consider cross-border impacts?; (ii) Is there a monitoring and early warning system, and is information exchange with upstream and downstream countries maintained?	[56, 58, 59]
RI3	Information sharing	(i) Does the project regularly report to the community the most important risks and opportunities?	[58]