ISTANBUL: Pakistan on Thursday signed an agreement with Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Istanbul to import 1,000 megawatt electricity under the CASA-1000 project.
The Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif led the Pakistani delegation while Tajikistan’s delegation was led by the Deputy Prime Minister, and Afghan as well as Kyrgyz delegations were led by their respective energy ministers.
Under the agreement, Pakistan will import 1,000 megawatts electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan at a price of 9.35 cents including all charges. The Central Asia-South Asia Regional Energy and Trade (CASA-1000) project is scheduled for completion by 2018 under the umbrella of the World Bank.
Tajikistan share in the energy export will be 70 per cent, Kyrgyzstan will export 30 per cent, Afghanistan will consume 300 megawatts of the exported energy while Pakistan will receive 1,000 megawatts electricity. The project would boost energy trade in the region that will lead to sustainable development.
Earlier, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has agreed to finance the CASA-1000 megawatt power import project, filling the gap left after the World Bank had agreed to finance a little less than 50% of the total cost.
The total cost is estimated to be at $1.17 billion. The Board of Directors at World Bank had approved financing of the CASA-1000 project at $526.5 million in March this year.
Sources said the IDB had agreed to contribute to fill the gap that would see the export of electricity to Pakistan.