KABUL - A Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) official on Tuesday said the World Bank (WB) had pledged a grant of $526 million for finalisation of CASA-1000 power project.

When completed, CASA-1000 will allow Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to profit from existing, unused summer generation capacity by selling electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Afghanistan would doubly benefit from the project as a consumer and as a transit country, generating revenue. Pakistan would add 1,000mw to its national grid during the summer months.

MoFA spokesman Ahmad Shekib Mustaghni told a news conference in Kabul that the WB, USAID and other organisations funding project had stressed the need for giving it final shape.

After announcing financial support for the project in March 2014, WB had offered $526 million as part of the $17 billion cost of the scheme, the spokesman recalled.

He said candidates for Installation of Multi-Terminal HVDC Converter Stations in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan along with HVDC Line from Sangtuda to Peshawar via Kabul would be announced next month.

Financial and transitional aspects of the project were being given final touches and construction work on the project would begin soon, Mustaghni added.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2018. Afghanistan will import 300 megawatts and Pakistan 1,000MWs from 1,300MWs of the power. (Pajhwok)