KABUL (Pajhwok): A natural gas power station is being constructed at a cost of $75 million in northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, officials said on Wednesday.
The station would jointly be constructed by privately-owned Ghazanfar Group and World Bank (WB).
An agreement about the building of the project was signed by officials of ministries of mines, energy and water and finance and representatives of Ghazanfar Group and WB in Kabul.
Mohammad Ismail Ghazanfar, chairman of the Ghazanfar Group, said the project’s primary procedures would be completed in three months and then a contract would be signed. “After signing contract the company will take six to nine months to complete.”
Ghazanfar added 40 per cent of the cost would be paid by his company while the rest was being paid by a member of the WB’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The initial capacity of the station, he added, would be 50 megawatt electricity but with further investment it would generate up o 1,000 megawatt.
Abdul Razaq Samadi, head of Da Afghanistan Breshna Shirkat (DABS), asked ministry of mines to provide the Shiberghan natural gas with an efficient price to the company so that cheap electricity could be provided to Mazar-i-Sharif residents.
According to ministry of energy and power of 1,000 megawatt power used in Afghanistan, 560 megawatt was imported from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Iran and the rest was generated inside the country.
