Development works begin at hydropower project CASA-1000: Omar Ayub

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub on Saturday announced the beginning of development works at the 1300 MW hydropower project, CASA-1000, ARY NEWS reported.

The Central Asia-South Asia power project, commonly known by the acronym CASA-1000, is a US$1.16 billion project currently under construction that will allow for the export of surplus hydroelectricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and finally to Pakistan.

The federal minister took to Twitter to make the announcement, saying that construction of the high voltage power current (HVDC) converter station has begun.

“The construction of the converter station has begun at Azakhel Bala village of Nowshera district by an international contractor,” he said adding that the 113-kilometer transmission line from the Afghan border will be completed by 2023. “The converter station will be completed by 2024,” they said.

In January this year, Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan and Islamic Development Bank President Dr. Bandar Hajjar jointly inaugurated the construction of the 113-kilometer electricity transmission lines from Pak-Afghan border to Nowshera under the South Asia Central Asia Regional Trade and Transmission Project (CASA-1000) in a virtual event.

Omar Ayub appreciated the efforts of member countries and the support of all sponsoring partners for financing the construction of power transmission lines infrastructure in Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan under the CASA-1000 project.

He said, “The project will support economic integration among four participating countries, through establishing the regional electricity connection and creation of an integrated electricity market and it will also positively contribute towards energy security since the energy mix of Pakistan has been strengthened through substantial amount of cross border import and export of electricity”.

“CASA-1000 Project is not only a transformative development in economic and power sectors of Central Asia and South Asia, instead it is an inspiring model of how such development change can be best accomplished,” the minister added.