The senior officials from Turkmenistan had a meeting with the Afghan delegation visiting Turkmenistan for the exhibition and the joint Turkmen-Business forum. The meeting took place on 4 March 2024.
The sides exchanged notes on the progress on the joint projects and initiatives.
The Turkmen side informed that there were plans for a project for the construction of a grain elevator near the crossing point Kushka-Torghundi on the Turkmen-Afghan border. The estimated capacity of which will be 100000 of grain for temporary storage. From here the grain will be transported to Afghanistan. Kazakhstan is possibly a partner in this project.
As reported separately, Turkmenistan is also planning to build the 173km railway line from Torghundi to Herat. The preparation of the feasibility study has started.
The Turkmen railway, from its own resources and funds, will build a loading and unloading area with a covered warehouse complex in the dry port of Torghundi, and work on this project is already underway.
The supply of electricity from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan has also been increasing gradually. In 2024, Turkmenistan intends to send a total of 1,835,300,000 kWh of electricity to Afghanistan.
At the same time, in order to fully satisfy the electricity demand of consumers in the Afghan provinces of Herat, Farah and Kandahar, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power transmission line project was launched.
The project investor is the Turkish company Calik Holding AS. According to the concept presented by the company, this project is planned to be implemented in three stages.
At the first stage – the construction of a power transmission line from the Mary power plant to the province of Herat with a length of 375 km and a capacity of 220 kV; on the second – power lines from Mary power plant to the city of Quetta in Pakistan with a length of 1150 km and a power of 500 kV; on the third – 220 kV power transmission lines with a length of 575 km from Herat province to Kandahar province in Afghanistan.
As part of the implementation of the first stage of the project, in August 2021, the investor company completed the construction and installation work of the Turkmen part, the new power transmission system was brought into a state of readiness for connection to the energy system of Afghanistan. At the same time, the investor company, free of charge, overhauled the existing 110 kV power transmission line from the Turkmen-Afghan border to the Afghan city of Herat and prepared the power transmission system for operation at a power of 220 kV.
Construction and installation work is currently underway to expand the Nur-ul-Jihad power plant in Herat; during this month, modern technological equipment will be installed there and commissioning work will be carried out.
The commissioning of this important facility will increase the amount of electricity supplied from Turkmenistan to Herat from the current 70 MW to 120 MW. /// nCa, 5 March 2024 [photo credit – Orient]