Work on CASA-1000 to start next week, says Tajik envoy

ISLAMABAD: The Central Asia-South Asia 1000 (CASA-1000) project to supply 1,000 megawatts of electricity through a 750-kilometre-long transmission line from Tajikistan to Pakistan would formally be launched in Dushanbe next week.

The project signed between Tajikistan and Pakistan would be completed at a cost of $1.2 billion in two years, helping Pakistan get cheaper and clean energy to minimise the electricity shortages, Tajikistan Ambassador Sherali S Jononov said on Wednesday.

About the security of transmission line passing through Afghanistan, he informed the media persons that Kabul had given a guarantee to ensure the same. He said hydroelectric power generation in Tajikistan had been stable during the last 15 years. In addition to big plants, he said, there were also 20 medium and 40 small hydel power plants in the remote mountainous areas with capacity ranging from 5 kilowatts to 1,500KW.

Responding a question, he said all arrangements including necessary financial resources had been made to undertake the project forthwith. As per an agreement, Tajikistan will export 1,000MW of hydel electricity to Pakistan through a 750 kilometres long transmission line by the year 2018, he added.

Jononov said only Tajikistan could export more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity to Pakistan through hydel projects especially in the summer season.He said work on another transmission line of the same capacity from Tajikistan to Pakistan via Wakhan Strip bordering Afghanistan would also begin shortly after the working of CASA-1000 transmission line.