Pakistan, Afghanistan Boost Power with 1,300-Megawatt Asian Power Line

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The protocol agreement between Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan for the construction of a dedicated cross-border electrical power transmission line has been signed in Dubai. The Casa-1000 power trade project targets the supply of 1,300 megawatts (MW) of surplus hydropower that is available during the summer months, from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan is designated to receive 1,000 MW of the transmitted power, and Afghanistan is designated to receive 300 MW.

The partner countries have been working on the development of power trading through a Central Asia-South Asia Regional Electricity Market (Casarem) since 2008.

The transmission lines will stretch from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and then pass through Afghanistan to Pakistan, and the four partners will hold equal stakes and responsibilities in the project. The contract covers a 30-year period and is scheduled to be commissioned in 2012.

Pakistan, which has dire electricity supply problems, is pressing for the project to be completed. The project will be operated on a public-private basis with the support of the World Bank, USAID, Islamic Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation and the Arab Bank.

The World Bank is providing financial and technical assistance, and proposes to start construction in 2014. The bank's office in Afghanistan will coordinate the initiation phase, and the hiring of country advisers is expected to be completed by the end of June. A project office has been opened in Almaty (Kazakhstan) and the process of hiring contractors is due to start soon.

"We are assuring complete security for the project and important projects started in Afghanistan are being provided complete security," said Afghanistan's minister of energy and water, Mohamed Esmail Khan.

For related information, see November 14, 2011, article - Central Asian 1,600 Kilometer Power Line Project Receives $500 Million Russian Push.

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