DUSHANBE, September 19, 2014, Asia-Plus — First Deputy Prime Minister, Davlatali Said, yesterday received U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Susan Elliott.
Subhiddin Muhiddinov, a senior consultant to the president’s press center, says the sides discussed issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and the United States.
They, in particular, discussed cooperation between the two countries in implementing regional energy projects, including the Central Asia South Asia Electricity Trade and Transmission Project (CASA 1000).
It was noted that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 7.5 million U.S. dollars to Tajikistan for implementation of the CASA 1000 project. The World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank provided $45 million and $70 million respectively for this project.
Some 314 million U.S. dollars are needed for construction of the Tajik section of the CASA 1000 project and the Tajik Government is currently conducting negotiations on attraction of investments for implementation of this project, Davlatali Said said.
CASA 1000 is designed to transmit 1,300MW of surplus electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan through Afghanistan, which is going to consume 300MW, to Pakistan.
The CASA 1000 Project is expected to develop the necessary physical infrastructure and create the institutional and legal framework to transmit surplus power available from existing generation facilities in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The physical infrastructure for CASA 1000 is likely to include: a 500 kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system between Tajikistan and Pakistan through Afghanistan; an AC transmission link from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to connect to the HVDC line from Tajikistan to South Asia; and the necessary electricity sub-stations in Kabul, Peshawar and Sangtuda (in Tajikistan).
