THE GRAND COMMISSIONING OF THE POWER TRANSMISSION LINE ALONG KERKI (TURKMENISTAN) – SHEBERGHAN (AFGHANISTAN) ROUTE

Today, on the 14th of January 2021, the commissioning of the power transmission line along Kerki (Turkmenistan) – Sheberghan (Afghanistan) route was held in participation of the Presidents of Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. 

Before the commissioning of the given power transmission line, the Minister of Energy of Turkmenistan Charymyrat Purchekov and the Director General of the Afghanistan National Water and Energy Affairs Regulation Authority Khan Mohammad Takal gave speeches at the ceremony. They shortly informed the participants about the construction process of the given infrastructure and the readiness to its launching.     

In his speech, Ch. Purchekov noted that under the leadership of the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov extensive work is being done on the increase of the electric power volumes and expansion of the geography of the electricity export.  The commissioning of the power transmission line along Kerki – Sheberghan route serves as yet another proof of the development of energy cooperation between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.

After congratulating the heads of states and the people of two brotherly countries with the commissioning of the power transmission line, Khan Mohammad Takal expressed gratitude to Afghan and Turkmen counterparts for active participation to the implementation of the project.  He told about the importance of the joint projects on the establishment of necessary infrastructure, providing to Afghanistan opportunities for the use of regional power industry market. It was stated that one of the priorities of the Government of Afghanistan was to ensure energy security of the country. 

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani gave their blessings for the commissioning of the power transmission line along Kerki – Sheberghan route and then the participants saw on the screen the process of electricity transmission via a technological imitation model.

The power transmission line along Kerki (Turkmenistan) – Sheberghan (Afghanistan) route with the length of 153 kilometers and the voltage of 500 kV is a part of the power transmission line project along “Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan” route aimed at the creation of infrastructure for the export and import of electric power between the three countries. Thus, the electricity from Turkmenistan will be supplied to a number of cities of Afghanistan, in particular Mazar-e-Sharif, with further access to the cities of Pakistan.