The long-abandoned proposal to construct high-voltage power lines from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to address Afghanistan's and Pakistan's electrical shortages was given new life last week in Istanbul, Turkiye. In response to demands from Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, the World Bank has announced its intention to resume assistance for the $1.2 bn Central Asia-South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project, or CASA-1000.
The advancement of CASA-1000 was interrupted in August 2021 due to the Taliban’s ascension to power. At that juncture, approximately 18% of the towers in the Afghan segment of the project had been constructed. The World Bank revealed in a recent factsheet that nearly 95% of the required materials and equipment for the completion of the project in Afghanistan have been acquired.
To ensure that the eventual revenues are administered outside Afghanistan and not under the control of the Interim Taliban Authority (ITA), the World Bank intends to execute the Afghan segment of the project in a ring-fenced manner. During the construction phase, payments will be made directly to the offshore accounts of international contractors and consultants, with verification by an independent monitoring agency.
The idea behind CASA-1000, which has been developing since 2018, involves upstream nations Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan trading 1.3 mn megawatts of surplus hydropower generated in summer with electricity-deficient Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, the precise quantity of surplus power these countries will have remains unclear.
Tajikistan’s ambitions are contingent on completing the ambitious Roghun hydropower plant, which is grappling with rising costs. Similarly, Kyrgyzstan’s energy security heavily relies on the completion of the Kambar-Ata hydropower plant-1.
Follow Daryo's official Instagram and Twitter pages to keep current on world news.
Comments (0)