MONITORING (SW) – Despite the many sources for electricity production in Afghanistan, the country remains heavily dependent on imported electricity.
According to the power utility, Da AfghanistanBreshna Sherkat (DABS), 78% of the country’s electricity is imported and only 22% of the required electricity is produced using domestic sources.
Breshna company officials said on Wednesday that only 38% of Afghan citizens have access to electricity. Safiullah Ahmadzai, deputy head DABS, said in general 38% of the people of Afghanistan have access to electricity.
In the meeting to present the one-year report, the DABS officials announced that Afghanistan is currently facing a shortage of 380 megawatts of electricity.
According to the officials the country needs 1220 megawatts of electricity on daily basis, of which only about 840 megawatts of electricity is imported from neighboring countries or supplied from domestic production.
At the same time, the DABS officials announced the launch of a plan based on which the price of electricity will be the same throughout the country. According to officials, this plan has been partnered with the Ministry of Energy and Water and will be implemented after the approval of the cabinet.
On the other hand, in another press conference, the officials of the Ministry of Energy and Water, presenting the one-year work report, said that this ministry has many projects in the field of energy production and water management.
The officials admit that they are facing a lack of budget, but according to them, they are trying to implement their plans.
Farhad Mahmoudi, head of energy programs of the Ministry of Energy and Water, said the lack of budget has not made the officials sit quietly and do nothing. “The good news is that we held a conference to attract and encourage the private sector to invest in the water and energy sector, about 200 companies offered to participate in this conference, and 132 projects are proposed in this conference”.
Afghanistan imports its electricity from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Uzbekistan. After the recent developments a year ago, which led to economic stagnation and the breakdown of the country’s banking system, problems arose in the electricity import sector and payments to Afghanistan’s electricity supplier countries.
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