Uzbekistan stops power supply to Afghanistan, negotiations continue regarding restoration

Kabul [Afghanistan], January 15 (ANI): Electricity from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan has been disconnected due to technical issues, the country's power distributor, Da Afghanistan Bereshna Sherkat announced on Sunday, TOLO News reported.

Da Afghanistan Bereshna Sherkat (DABS) official Safiullah Ahmadzai said that Afghan officials were negotiating with Uzbekistan officials regarding the restoration of the power supply, as per the TOLO News report. He said that the company has started the Tarakhil thermal power station to address the issue of electricity shortage in Afghanistan's capital Kabul.

"We activate thermal power stations for five and six hours at night which has a huge cost for us because our customers have electricity for one to two hours," TOLO News reported Safiullah Ahmadzai as saying.

DABS official Safiullah Ahmadzai said that it is not clear when the electricity from Uzbekistan will be reconnected to Afghanistan. He stressed that they have not received a positive response from Uzbekistan about the reconnection of electricity to Afghanistan, as per the news report.

"We didn't receive a positive response from Uzbekistan about when they will reconnect the electricity to Afghanistan," TOLO News reported Safiullah Ahmadzai as saying.

Two weeks back, Uzbekistan had extended the agreement for supplying power to Afghanistan. As per the agreement, Uzbekistan will provide 450 megawatts of electricity to Afghanistan during winter which cost USD 100 million.

Former DABS head Amanullah Ghalib said that Breshna must immediately connect the Turkmenistan electricity to Kabul and not wait for external help, according to TOLO News. Kabul residents have said that they are facing a tough situation due to continued blackouts during the winter.

"Breshna has to immediately connect the Turkmenistan electricity line from Mazar-e-Sharif and the Pul-e-Khumri line to Kabul. And it should not wait for any external help," TOLO News quoted Amanullah Ghalib as saying.

As per the Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat, the import transmission lines for Kabul electricity were made in 2008. They have the capacity of transmitting 300 megawatts of power and Kabul requires over 700 megawatts of power. (ANI)