DUSHANBE, October 26, 2011, Asia-Plus — An official ceremony of introduction of the 220 kV power transmission line from Sangtuda in Tajikistan to Pul-i Khumri in Afghanistan into operation will take place tomorrow, October 27, according to the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI).
The ceremony will be attended by Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov and Afghan Vice-President Mohammad Qasim Fahim, the source at a MoEI said, noting that Tajik Minister of Energy and Industries Gul Sherali and Afghan Minister of Energy and Water Resources Mohammad Ismail Khan will also attend the ceremony.
Representatives of Barqi Tojik power holding (the state-owned utility responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Tajikistan) reportedly visited Afghanistan recently to get acquainted with operating conditions of the power transmission line on Afghan territory.
“Since Tajikistan is still experiencing winter electricity shortages, we will supply surplus electricity to Afghanistan only in summer,” said the source. “During autumn-winter period, we will supply 3 or 4 megawatt–hour of electricity per day to Afghanistan, only for testing purposes.”
The power transmission line is expected to begin to operate in full capacity at the end of spring of 2012
Barqi Tojik says Tajikistan now supplies electrical power in small amounts only to the Afghan city of Kunduz and the cost of Tajik electricity for Afghanistan is currently 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Electricity generated by the Sangtuda-2 hydroelectric power plant (HPP) will be supplied to Afghanistan. “The Sangtuda-2 HPP offers its electrical power at 2.5 cents per one kWh, while current price of one kWh of electricity in Tajikistan is not more than 1.8 cents,” said the source, “Therefore, it was decided to use for export electricity, generated by the Sungtuda-2 HPP, at the rate of 3.1-3.5 cents per one kWh.”
A total cost the Tajikistan-Afghanistan 220 kV interconnection project that was launched in 2009 is 56.5 million U.S. dollars and it is financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, and the governments of Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
On the territory of Tajikistan, the line starts in the Sanguda-1 hydroelectric plant and ends on the Tajik-Afghan border. The 220 kV Tajikistan-Afghanistan power transmission line is 278 kilometers long, and 116 kilometers of it lies on Tajik territory and 162 kilometers on Afghan territory.
Increasing hydro-electrical output is a key component of the Tajik government’s plans for improving the nation’s economy, a goal which has met with increasing resistance from neighboring Uzbekistan, which fears that further construction of hydroelectric facilities in Tajikistan could disrupt water flows essential to Uzbekistan’s agrarian base.
