Turkmenistan ready to transit electricity through Afghanistan

By Huseyn Hasanov– Trend:

Turkmenistan conducts practical work on the implementation of a new international project on electricity exports within the framework of the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP) project, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.

The implementation of the project will mean the actual transformation of Afghanistan from the recipient of electricity into a country which transits electricity, according to the report.

It was earlier reported that at the initial stage, the first investments of TUTAP project could be directed to the unification of the energy systems of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The TUTAP project is included in the Action Plan for the Energy Sector of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program.

The issue of building a 500-kV air power line is being studied in order to export Turkmen electricity to Pakistan. Turkmenistan already supplies electricity at a discounted price to the neighboring Afghanistan.

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the meeting with Chairman and CEO of Calik Holding A.S. Ahmet Calik proposed to present developments on the construction of power transmission lines along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, which is being built.

The construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI pipeline began in December 2015, and preparatory work is underway in the Afghan and Pakistani sections.

Turkmenistan plans to produce electricity up to 27.4 billion kilowatt hours by 2020 and to increase this volume up to 35.5 billion kilowatt hours by 2030.

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