INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) has announced that a contract for the purchase of electricity from Uzbekistan has been signed for the
year 2025.This agreement was signed following a visit by an Islamic Emirate delegation, led by DABS CEO Abdul Bari Omari to Tashkent, where
they engaged in discussions with Uzbek officials.&The General Director of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat, along with a delegation, traveled
to Uzbekistan and signed the electricity purchase agreement for 2025 during a meeting with officials from the Uzbek electricity sector,&
said DABS spokesman Hekmatullah Maiwandi.Meanwhile, some investors have urged IEA to engage with Uzbekistan regarding the 500-kilovolt
electricity project and to ensure the swift completion of this project.Once completed, the project is expected to alleviate some of the
electricity shortages in the country.Tajikistan agreementLate last month, Tajikistan&s national electric power company, Barqi Tojik, and
DABS signed a similar agreement, which will see Tajikistan supply Afghanistan with power through 2025.The signing ceremony was attended by
Mahmadumar Asozoda, General Director of Barqi Tojik, Omar.According to Barqi Tojik&s press secretary, Kurbon Ahmadzoda, the agreement is
expected to be extended annually until 2028.However, the electricity export will reportedly be limited to the summer months, from May to
September, and will be dependent on the availability of electricity within Tajikistan&s domestic market, Tajik media reported at the
time.Powering a futureAfghanistan currently produces only 20% of its energy needs, while 80% of its electricity is imported from Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.The Islamic Emirate has however made it a priority to encourage domestic production of power since
regaining control in August 2021.Omar has met with potential investors on numerous occasions and has encouraged them to invest in the
sector.One such meeting was held in August with officials from Bayat Power.Bayat Power is Afghanistan&s largest private Electric Power
Production and Development Company and owns and operates Bayat Power-1, the first in a new generation of Gas to Electricity power generation
plants.Bayat Power is hoping to start work soon on Phase 2 of Bayat Power-1 in northern Jawzjan province in order to increase electricity
production output for Afghanistan.Mohammad Shoaib Sahibzada, the technical head of Bayat Power, has said that once Phase 2 is complete,
electricity production will increase from 40 to 100 megawatts.Sahibzada said Bayat Power&s natural gas to electricity generation project
will eventually produce up to 250 megawatts of electricity once Phase 3 is complete.Bayat Power has produced over one billion kilowatt hours
of electricity in just under five years after starting commercial operations in late 2019.Sahibzada said that over the past five years, the
company has also worked on capacity building of its technical employees.Leading the wayBayat Power is the first private company in 40 years
to produce electricity from natural gas in the country and the multi-million dollar plant uses Siemens Energy&s SGT-A45 mobile gas turbine
for its economic efficiency, flexible deployment, and power density.Currently providing electricity to hundreds of thousands of end-users
and generating more than 300 million kWh annually, the project was structured as an innovative public-private partnership between Bayat
Power, Siemens Energy, and Afghanistan government entities such as theMinistry of Mines and Petroleum, the Ministry of Energy and Water, and
the General Directorate of Afghan Gas Corporation Company, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), and international partners.The Bayat Group
is the largest private investor in Afghanistan and Bayat Power is currently the only gas-powered plant in the country.The Siemens Energy&s
SGT-A45 mobile gas turbine used by the company is the only one in operation in the world.The post DABS signs contract to purchase
electricity from Uzbekistan for 2025 first appeared on Ariana News.
