Afghanistan can produce 318MW of electricity: Mansoor

KABUL (Pajhwok): Based on primary estimations and surveys, Afghanistan has the capacity to produce nearly 318 megawatts of electricity from its renewable sources, said acting Water and Energy minister said on Thursday.

Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor told this a conference about the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)” in China.

Afghanistan has taken firm steps to become self-reliant in power-generation sector during the past three years, Mansoor said.

He said: “According to primary estimations and survey,, Afghanistan has the capacity to produce 318MW of power from its renewable sources, which include the generation of 23,000MW power from water, 67,000MW power from wind, 222,000MW from sun, around 3,000MW-3,500MW from geo-thermal and 4,000MW from biomass”.

The minister said the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) was hopeful the country will grow considerably in the mentioned sectors in future.

Referring to Afghanistan’s location as a connecting hub between southern and central Asia, the Chinese Road and Belt initiative will add more to the business and energy sector which can further connect Europe as well as this region, Mansoor said.

Opening the Wakhan corridor can boost relations between Afghanistan and China and open more ways connecting the country to Xinjiang province of the neighboring country.

The acting minister said: “The active role of the IEA in China’s RBI project in connecting Asia, Europe and Africa is applicable to long term strategic vision of involved countries.”

He said: “Further improving the infrastructure of energy sector, Afghanistan can play its geopolitical and economic role between the two countries. Connecting central and south Asia, this country can further connect more regions and create shared markets of energy.”

He said Afghanistan was also committed to its active role in getting involved in implementing more projects, stability and development. Such cooperation will further bolster the region politically and economically, Mansoor concluded.

aw/ma