Thursday, July 28, 2011 – Pulod Muhiddinov,Tajikistan’s first deputy minister of energy and industry on Wednesda said, Tajikistan will begin exporting electricity to Afghanistan via the Sangtuda-Pol-e Khomri 220-kilovolt electricity transmission line from next month.
Officials in Ministry of Energy and Industries of Tajikistan further added, the price of the electricity is less than the electricity from Uzbekistan.
While speaking during a press conference, Muhiddinov told journalists, “The construction of the Afghan section of this power line was delayed due to the unstable political situation in Afghanistan, whereas the Tajik side was ready last year. According to our agreements, the price of the Tajik electricity for Afghanistan will be 3.5 cents per 1 kilowatt hour and this price will be increasing by 2 per cent every year. Whereas the price of 1 kilowatt hour of Uzbek electricity for Afghanistan is 7-7.5 cents.”
According to him the power lines will be extended to Afghanistan trough a 220-kilowatt cable. The project was due to start last year but it was postponed due to political instability in Afghanistan.
The project’s practical phase will start in one month.
Folad Mahiudinov also said, “We will not provide electricity for Afghanistan during autumn and winter seasons until the Rogan electricity plant is made.”
Currently, Afghanistan buys nearly 300 Megawatts of electricity is being bought from Uzbekistan.
