Afghanistan's state power utility, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), signed agreements with private companies in Kabul on Tuesday for ten projects worth about $105 million to build solar plants, substations and transmission lines in seven provinces.
According to DABS, the projects will be carried out in Kabul, Balkh, Samangan, Ghazni, Parwan, Kunduz and Helmand. They include four solar projects with a combined 100 megawatts, costing about $65 million: a 40MW plant at Barikab in Parwan, 30MW in Balkh, 20MW at Asqalan in Kunduz and 10MW in Helmand. The other six projects, worth around $40 million, cover substations and power lines, including a 220kV substation at Hairatan in Balkh and a 220kV line from Naibabad to industrial parks.
DABS chief executive Mullah Abdul Haq Hamkar called the deals an important step towards growth and self-sufficiency in the power sector. Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Islamic Emirate's administrative deputy prime minister, described them as a major step for Afghanistan's energy sector and invited domestic and foreign investors to put money into it.
Mawlawi Ahmad Jan Bilal, head of state-owned companies, said factories, industrial parks and farming cannot fully grow until the country has enough power of its own, calling the move a historic step towards turning Afghanistan from an electricity importer into a self-sufficient country. DABS says the projects will be completed within 18 to 20 months.