Afghanistan’s national electricity company Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) said Monday that soon a wind power project will be launched close to Turkmenistan’s border in Herat province.
Wahidullah Tawhidi, a spokesman for the company, said the project cost forty-three million dollars and within three years will produce 25 megawatts of electricity.
According to DABS, part of the project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the rest is funded by a Turkish contractor.
Breshna says the land has been allotted for the project, and papers will be signed in a few days.
“Eight turbines will be connected in the project, and with these eight turbines we can generate 30 megawatts of DC electricity, and when converted to AC we can generate about twenty-five megawatts of electricity, and this power will be distributed to Herat city and to Herat’s industrial park and to business centers in Herat province,” DABS spokesman Wahidullah Tawhidi said.
After the project is completed, the Turkish company will sell the generated electricity for 20 years to the government and after that the project will be fully handed over to the Afghan government.
“The government should focus more on investment in electricity from domestic sources. On the one hand, capital is operated domestically and on the other hand, we will have permanent domestic electricity,” said Taj Mohammad Talash, economic analyst.
According to statistics from the Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water, Afghanistan is capable of generating 68,000 megawatts of wind power, but currently only 0.3 megawatts of wind power is produced in Herat.
