CASA-1000: Pak-Tajik FMs for early implementation of project

ASTANA: Pakistan and Tajikistan on Tuesday underlined the early implementation of CASA-100 (Central Asia-South Asia) power export project, and other connectivity and regional integration projects for the mutual benefit of the two countries and the wider region.

Implementation of the CASA-1000 project started in January 2018. The project is a $1.2 billion regional program to interconnect the power systems of four countries to transfer excess hydropower of 1,300 MW from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The bilateral ties and projects were discussed in bilateral meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, on the sidelines of SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting being held here from May 20-21.

The two foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen bilateral cooperation and high-level dialogue.

It is reported that construction work on the CASA-1000 project has been resumed in Afghanistan, where it was frozen after the Taliban came to power in 2021.

“Tajikistan is expected to supply 70 percent of the CASA-1000 project [electricity], and Kyrgyzstan the remaining 30 percent. [They’ll supply] a total of 1,000-1,300 MW of electricity per year,” Elzada Sargashkayeva, head of the public relations department of NENK (National Electricity Networks of Kyrgyzstan), told the Times of Central Asia.