The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$159m grant for a power transmission project to help Afghanistan overcome shortages in key areas and ultimately aid its push to become an exporter of surplus electricity to neighbouring countries. The North-South Power Transmission Enhancement Project will build a 550-kV transmission line straddling 225 m across the Hindukush mountain range from the northern town of Dashte Alwan to Kabul in the south. It will include a substation connecting to the grid in the capital, Kabul. It will also complement a separate 500 kV substation to be built in the north by ADB under its Energy Sector Development Program.
Afghanistan, which imports the vast bulk of its energy needs, has seen power demand in major centers grow at 25% per year. At the same time, it has 10 isolated power grid “islands” fed from different sources, and this creates system inefficiencies, increases operational costs, and reduces the reliability of supplies. Currently the only transmission line connecting northern Afghanistan to the south is a 220-kV line with 300 MW capacity. The new link will add up to 1,000 MW, furthering the country’s objective of increasing its electrification rate, which stood at just 25% in 2012.