May 15 , 2016
News
CASA-1000 to power new Silk Road, peace building
750-kilometre transmission line allows Pakistan to import electricity from Tajikistan bringing economic interdependence
CASA-1000 to power new Silk Road, peace building
By APPISLAMABAD: The electricity transmission line of CASA-1000 which passes through the towering green peaks of Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan floating downwards the rough terrain of Afghanistan and the lands of Pakistan holds a promising future of the region’s prosperity and peace.
To minimise electricity shortage, the $1.2 billion, 750-kilometre long transmission that will allow Pakistan to import electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan via Afghanistan, also brings an economic interdependence to the region.
“A more interconnected region can serve as a driver of economic development and as an anchor of peace and security,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said.
Nawaz believes that energy diplomacy can be used for peace building in the region.
“As the interests of stakeholder countries converge, such development projects help overcome the trust deficit between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he said, adding that countries cannot prosper in an atmosphere of hostility.
On challenges to CASA-1000 owing to precarious security situation in Afghanistan, the prime minister mentions that the Afghan government has given a sovereign guarantee to protect the section of the transmission line passing through it. He said that Pakistan and Central Asian states are for the first time serious in strengthening their bilateral relations and transforming these into economy-based ties.
Pakistan will consume about 1,000MW of the exported energy while 300MW will be used by Afghanistan.
Around 16 per cent of the transmission line of will pass through Tajikistan, 75per cent through Afghanistan and 9 per cent through Pakistan.
Starting with the supply of 1,300MW which may go up to 2,800MW in subsequent years, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan - the world’s third largest producer of hydroelectric power - have been pursuing the development of electricity trading arrangements and the establishment of the Casa Regional Energy Market (CASAREM) since 2005.
Officials believe that by increasing the economic interdependence of the countries involved, CASA-1000 will help lay the foundation for regional peace by fundamentally changing incentives for leaders in the region.
“When all the concerned parties will pursue with peace as their common objective, the outcome would be an improved situation in the region,” Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Muhammad Asif said.
The minister mentioned that CASA-1000 covers the relevant needs of the countries with Afghanistan receiving the transit fee besides 300 MW of electricity and Pakistan getting 1,000 MW of electricity during its sweltering summer season.
According to the World Bank - which is one of the main financiers of CASA-1000 - all country governments have agreed to provide adequate security to contractor’s personnel and goods.
“Each country has prepared a Security Management Plan for both the construction and operation phases of the line in their respective areas of ownership,” a Bank report said.
The community support programmes - being developed for local communities living near the line for the whole CASA-1000 Project corridor - will serve as an incentive for communities to preserve its safe operation.
“These programmes will cover more than 600 communities along the transmission line. Financing of the $40 million project has been approved for Afghanistan, where the longest length of the high voltage direct current line (HVDC) will pass and $30 million have been restored for the support for the other three countries,” the report mentions.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk