Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, April 23 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmenistan deals with design development regarding the possible supply of electricity to Pakistan via Afghanistan, the official Turkmen source said today.
This issue was discussed at the recent meeting between Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in Ashgabat.
At present, Afghanistan as a transit country is an importer of Turkmen electricity supplied at this stage at reduced prices. The present volume is about 325 million kilowatt-hours per year.
Turkmenistan implements measures to expand the infrastructure that will eventually allow to increase exports of electricity to Afghanistan by five times.
The State Electric Power Corporation "Turkmenenergo" chose Turkish Company Lotus Proje Akaryakit Enerji Madencilik Telekomunikasyon Insaat Sanayi Taahhut ve Ticaret AS as a contractor for the project worth $390 million.
A large-scale project for laying a gas pipeline to India and Pakistan for Turkmen gas supplies is connected with the territory of Afghanistan.
The experts think that the implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India project (TAPI) may contribute to the restoration in Afghanistan, because it will allow creating jobs and providing the country with guaranteed income for the transit.
At present, transport opportunities allow the country to sell electricity to Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and Central Asia countries.
It is planned to bring the level of electricity production up to 35.5 billion kw / h by 2030 in accordance with Turkmenistan development strategy.
It is planned to build three gas turbine combined cycle power stations with a total capacity of 1122 MW to achieve this goal. The construction of high voltage transmission lines and substations that will reduce electricity losses during transportation will be continued.
The country's power system will be fully looped by high voltage overhead lines of 500 kV in the future.