BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 9
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
The design, routing and land acquisition of the Surkhan-Pol-e-Khomri (Uzbekistan-Afghanistan) transmission line has already started, Senior advisor to CEO at Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat in Afghanistan Mojtaba Hoshmand told Trend.
National Power Grid of Uzbekistan JSC signed an agreement on electricity supply with the Afghan company Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) for 10 years. The agreement was signed during a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Sardor Umurzakov and Afghan Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar.
In particular, the issues of accelerating the construction of the Surkhan-Pol-e-Khomri power transmission line and working out the relevant draft agreement, as well as expert negotiations to prepare for the signing of a draft agreement on international motor transport were discussed.
“For the first two years it is planned to supply 4.25 billion kWh volumes of electricity and 6 billion kWh for the following 8 years from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan,” the advisor said.
Hoshmand added that the main term of the agreement signed is that the tariff would be flat for $0.5 for the next 10 years for an agreed amount of energy volume.
“In this specific project, a 500 kV transmission line from Surkhan to Pol-e-Khomri would be built by an Uzbek company through ADB (Asian Development Bank) funding,” said Hoshmand.
The Surkhan-Puli-Khumri power line will be about 260 kilometers, 45 kilometers of which are on the territory of Uzbekistan and 215 - in Afghanistan. The agreement on the construction of power lines was signed during the visit of President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani to Uzbekistan in December 2017. The total cost of the project is $150 million, $118 million of which is invested by the Afghan side, and $32 million - by the Uzbek side.
The new line will bring the volume of exports of Uzbek electricity to Afghanistan to mentioned energy volume per year per year. In addition, it will provide an opportunity to connect Afghanistan to the Central Asia Power System.
Uzbekistan is one of the main suppliers of electricity for Afghanistan, where there is an acute shortage of electricity. Representatives of the Afghan side have repeatedly stated previously that due to the growth in consumption, they intend to further increase the purchases of Uzbek energy.
Uzbekistan has been supplying electricity to Afghanistan since 2002 under annually concluded direct contracts, taking into account the needs of the Afghan side.
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