The remaining work on a 500 KV power line starting in Turkmenistan was signed today (Saturday) with a domestic private company.
The acting minister of energy and water, Abdul Latif Mansour, said that this project will be finished in two years, and the need of residents and industrialists in Kabul and other provinces for electricity will be resolved with its implementation.
This project will be resumed after two years of suspension, and the contracted company is supposed to invest 75 million US dollars.
“With a domestic company’s investment, they will drag a 500 kV line over 128 kilometers from Dasht Alwan to Chowk Arghandi, and from Dasht Alwan to Shabarghan; a contract has been signed with another company, which was announced a few days ago,” said Abdul Latif Mansour.
“Many of the project’s equipment has arrived in the area, a sizable portion of the work is advanced, and the remaining works of this project is about to start today,” said Farhad Mahmoudi, the head of energy programs at the MoEW.
The private sector’s investment in this project, according to Amanullah Ghalib, the former head of Breshna Sherkat, is a significant step in the direction of the nation’s energy supply.
“The 500 KV project is one of the most significant infrastructure projects for Afghanistan’s electricity projects, and with the implementation of this project, all of the current issues with Afghanistan’s electricity that exist in the central, eastern, and southern provinces, including the capital, will be resolved,” Ghalib told TOLOnews.
According to economists, once this project is finished, the issues with the lack of energy in industrial factories in Kabul and many other provinces will be resolved.
“The industrial parks operating in Afghanistan face serious economic problems due to the lack of electricity, and with the completion of this project, most of the necessities will be met,” said Qutbuddin Yaqoobi, an economist.
Turkmenistan’s 500 KV line project was started in 2016 with the financial support of the Asian Development Bank, but with the reestablishment of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan, the bank’s financial assistance and the work on this project were stopped.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Water, the Islamic Emirate will pay the investor company its $75 million costs as well as any profits after finishing the remaining work on this project from Sheberghan to Dasht Alwan and from there to the Arghandi area of Kabul.
