Turkmenistan to boost power exports to Afghanistan

With the inauguration of a huge gas-powered plant, Turkmenistan eyes exporting about 3 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually to energy-deficient Afghanistan and Pakistan.
President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov inaugurated the $1.2 billion upgraded plant in southeastern Mary province on Saturday, media reports said.
According to the state-controlled TV, the plant will boost power exports by 3 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) from the current 3.3 billion kWh a year. The Central Asian nation has the world’s fourth-biggest natural gas reserves.
“In the future, we plan to build a gas turbine power plant on the Turkmen-Afghan border together with Japan’s Sumitomo,” Berdymukhamedov was quoted as saying by Radio Free Europe.
Kabul, Tehran and Ankara are already purchasing electricity from the country, which also seeks to capture Pakistan’s market by building a power transmission line through Afghanistan.
Berdymukhamedov hoped new capacities at the plant would allow the country to boost exports to “neighboring countries”.