DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, March 25. Tajikistan has completed the construction of a 1,300 MW converter station in the Kushoniyon district of the Khatlon region, Trend reports via the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan.
The station was built as part of the regional Central Asia-South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000) project, designed to connect Central Asia with South Asia. The facility covers an area of 43 hectares, with the main technical equipment occupying 25 hectares. The station has successfully passed its technical testing phase.
The CASA-1000 is a regional energy project valued at $1.2 billion. Once operational, the completed CASA-1000 power lines will transmit high-voltage electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The project was approved by the World Bank's Board of Directors in March 2014, with financing from the International Development Association (IDA).
The official launch of the CASA-1000 implementation took place in May 2016 in the city of Tursunzade in Tajikistan. Upon completion, the CASA-1000 system will comprise 1,387 km of transmission lines.
The Afghan section of the project is expected to be completed and operational by 2026. The Tajik and Kyrgyz portions of the project have already been finished and are ready for connection to the regional grid.