40,000 Residents in Balkh To Benefit From New Electricity Distribution

The Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) and the Tajik construction company Tojik Gidro Elektro Montaj (TGEM) signed contracts for constructing a new electricity distribution network in Balkh Province’s capital Mazar-e Sharif on Wednesday.

The network shall supply electricity reliably to about 40,000 residents. The Afghan Minister of Energy and Water, parliament and provincial council members, and a representative of KfW Development Bank attended the event.

The Afghan-German Cooperation funds the construction works via KfW at a total cost of about AFN 480 million.

“When completing this project, many residents of Mazar-e-Sharif will have access to energy for improving their daily life and businesses,” said the Acting Minister of Energy and Water, Mohammad Gul Khulmi.

Currently, many citizens in Mazar-e Sharif do not have access to reliable energy. This does not only cause difficulties in their daily life, but also stops energy-dependent businesses to perform well. Therefore, the new distribution network will improve living conditions for residents and at the same time promote sustainable economic and social development in the region.

Construction works are expected to last until 2020. The Afghan utility Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) will install household connections once the infrastructure is completed.

The representative from KfW Development Bank, Dr Humayoon Alami, highlighted that it is crucial for Afghan beneficiaries and partners to manage maintenance properly and utilize facilities carefully to ensure sustainable quality services. This will ensure long-term access to energy, thus economic development.

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), KfW Development Bank has been implementing the program North-Eastern Power Supply System (NEPS) since 2010. The program aims at providing a reliable energy supply to residents, companies and public institutions in Afghanistan’s Northern provinces. To achieve this objective, NEPS connects cities and villages in Northern Afghanistan to the existing North-East-Power system via substations as well as transmission and distribution lines. The total investment volume amounts to about AFN 7 billion. Once completed, it will be possible to create up to 60,000 household connections, enabling up to 480,000 people to benefit from the new grid connection and thus access energy.