DABS signs agreements worth 20.7b afs with private sector

KABUL (Pajhwok): Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) on Thursday signed ten agreements with the private sector for electricity generation and transmission projects worth 20.7 billion afghanis.

The agreements were signed at the Government Information and Media Center in Kabul between DABS CEO Dr. Abdul Bari Omar and private sector officials in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Omar on the occasion said eight out of the ten projects were about electricity generation and two projects were about electricity transmission and construction of substations.

He said under signed agreements, investments will be made in wind, solar and gas power generation in Balkh, Herat, Laghman, Jawzjan, Logar, and Nangarhar provinces, with a production capacity of 228.45 megawatts.

Power transmission projects include the construction of the Eastern Power Station in Kandahar province and the Qalat Power Station in Zabul province, and the extension of a 110-kilovolt power line from Kajaki to Kandahar.

He added the total investment in was 20.7 billion afghanis, equivalent to $292.3 million. He said hundreds of people will be employed and work on these projects will be completed within a year.

He added that agreements for other projects in the power sector will also be signed in the near future and the company was trying to utilize available domestic power resources and provide electricity to the people.

According to Omar, Afghanistan has currently 1,000 megawatts of electricity, including imported and locally produced electricity and the implementation of the signed projects will meet 23 percent of the domestic demand.

Acting Minister of Economy Qari Din Mohammad Hanif said electricity was a basic need of Afghanistan and that the country’s economic development relied on electricity.

He said although Afghanistan had abundant resources in the field of electricity generation, it still imported electricity worth $280 million annually.

Maulvi Ahmad Jan Bilal, Director General of State-Owned Enterprises, said at the ceremony that the signing of a number of project agreements in the field of electricity generation and transmission was a good step towards self-sufficiency in the electricity sector.

He added that they were trying to take steps in electricity-related works.

He assured investors that they will provide them with all kinds of facilities in the field of electricity generation.

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