Central Asian 1,600-Kilometer Power Line Project Receives $500 Million Russian Push

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)-- The 1,600-kilometer CASA-1000 transmission line, which would be the largest regional power supply project in Eurasia, received a funding boost when Russia said that it was prepared to invest $500 million in the project.

The 1,000-megawatt (MW) transmission line will supply power from hydropower generating plants in Kyrgystan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan, which both need to augment a secure and cost-effective power supply. CASA-1000 will supply power to the two countries mainly during the summer months.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made the offer of support last week at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), saying that Russia was willing to commit at least $500 million in the project. "We could implement this project in a fairly short time, and we propose intensifying work in this direction."

To date, about 90% of the estimated $2 billion cost of the transmission line will be funded by international finance organizations, including the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank. Private investors will be found for the 10% balance.

The funding announcement came at a time when the SCO membership of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan was expanded to include Pakistan as a full member.

The Russian prime minister also announced the establishment of an Energy Club within SCO. This will concentrate on Central Asian regional energy linking projects, such as CASA-1000 and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline (TAPI).

The new developments and Russian commitment comes after President Dmitry Medvedev told the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan that Russia was willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the projects, but that necessary organizational changes must first be made. He also said that a range of projects had been on the table for a long time, with no forward movement, and should now be implemented.

One of the delays has been caused by stalling in the development of the Rogun hydropower project on the Vakhsh River in Tajikstan, which Uzbekistan is against for environmental reasons. When the project was announced some years ago, it was heralded as the world's highest dam wall at 335 meters. It also has suffered from destructive flooding and changes to specifications, including the height of the dam wall. The specifications indicate a total power capacity of 3,600 MW to be introduced in phases over a period.

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