DUSHANBE, February 1, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- It is necessary to speed up implementation of the Tajikistan-Afghanistan 220 kV interconnection project, Usmonali Usmonov, director of the unit for management of electric power projects, said.

According to him, a total cost of the project is 55 million U.S. dollars and it is scheduled to be completed in November this year.

“It is necessary to speed up the work on implementation of the project and to bring forward completion of the project to May this that will allow Tajikistan increasing electricity supplies to Afghanistan and there are all necessary preconditions for this,” the unit director said, noting that they have already negotiated the issue with Asian Development Bank and OPEC that are funding the project.

“On the territory of Tajikistan, the line starts in the Sanguda-1 hydroelectric plant and ends on the Tajik-Afghan border,” said Usmonov, “40 percent of work has already been done.”  “We are currently conducting negotiations with the Afghan side on speeding up the implementation of the project.” 

The 220 kV Tajikistan-Afghanistan power transition line is 274 kilometers long, and 118 kilometers of it lies on Tajik territory and 156 kilometers on Afghan territory.