Afghanistan and Pakistan Sign CASA-1000 Electricity Agreement
October 11, 2014
Afghanistan and Pakistan signed an agreement On October 11th, 2014 on electricity transit fees between the two countries, taking an important step forward for energy trading between Central and South Asia. The agreement was signed by the Minister of Finance and National Economic Advisor for Afghanistan and the Minister of Finance for Pakistan during the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Washington DC. This project will assist to establish the commercial arrangements for 1,300 megawatts (MW) of sustainable, regional electricity trade between Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the Central Asia South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000).
CASA-1000 will build more than 1,200 kilometers of electricity transmission lines and associated sub-stations to transmit excess summer hydropower energy from existing power generation stations in Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic to Pakistan and Afghanistan. To oversee the complex, four-country process, an Inter-Governmental Council has been established to supervise the design and implementation of the project.
Moreover, in March 2014, the World Bank Group approved financing for the engineering design, construction, and commissioning of transmission lines and three new converter stations. The project would build upon existing power generation stations that will provide the energy to be traded over CASA-1000.