Tuesday, October 04, 2016
Kabul (BNA) A Memorandum of Understanding of 52 megawatt gas power plant of Shebarghan was signed by the Minister of Energy and Water Ali Ahmad Osmani and head of Bayat Power firm, Ehsanullah Bayat, here yesterday in presence of President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, aiming to resolve the electricity shortage in the country, a statement from the presidential palace said.
According to the statement, the Minister of Energy and Water Ali Ahmad Osmani signed the contract during a special ceremony held in presidential palace, adding the contract worth $252 million and would generate 192 megawatt of electricity in three phases, where the High Economic Council had earlier approved the first phase, generating around 52 megawatt of electricity, the statement added. Minister Osmani went on saying that the contract will allow the Bayat power firm to present its proposal for the implementation of the project through using advanced technologies and considering the climate, rate of the electricity and other technical issueswithin the next three months. Hinting on importance of the project, Ehsanullah Bayat said that project will help Afghanistan’s electricity self-sufficiency, adding that the implementation of the project would take place six months after official signing of the contract.
“In the first phase, the project would generate 52 megawatt of electricity which will give Afghanistan 900 million Afghanis as the revenue that with completion of the third phase, the government’s revenue would be upgraded to 2.3 billion Afghanis,” he said as quoted in presidential palace’s statement.
According to Bayat power firm’s official, the electricity would be generated from Shebarghan’s natural gas through using advanced machinerieswithout any wastages, adding that project worth around 250 million USD and would pave the way for domestic and foreign investments. The government had earlier signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Turkish firm last week to start work on Kajaki Dam’s Phase-2 in a bid to help expand its electricity production by up to 151.5 megawatt.
