ISLAMABAD — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has decided to support and finance import of about 2,000MW electricity to Pakistan from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan besides the pipeline project for import of gas from Turkmenistan.
Official sources said that the bank has found economically feasible Pakistan's plans of developing Gwadar port as transnational hub for Central Asian States (CAS), South Asia, China and the Middle East and has decided to fund at least three mega projects of the overall concept. These include import of 1,000MW of electricity each from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) project.
The sources said the commitment for ADB's support and funding for the three projects has come at the highest level during recent interactions between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the ADB president C. Lawrence. It was not yet clear how much investment would be required for the electricity import projects and what contribution would come from the Asian development, said these sources saying a technical level delegation would be visiting Islamabad in the next few days for more detailed discussions.
The ADB is assisting Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in development of their vast but untapped hydropower potential. It wants the two central Asian republics to export 1,000MW each to Pakistan that currently faces more than 2,500MW of power shortfall in peak demand timings. Energy demand growth rate is now estimated at 10 per cent per annum in Pakistan.
Pakistan has been in discussions with Tajikistan for import of about 1,000MW of electricity and has held at least three formal rounds of discussions on the subject. In one of the formal interactions, major stakeholders like the United States, Afghanistan, Russia and energy giants from the US and Russia had also participated.
The ADB has been working very closely with the World Bank in the recent days to create a regional electricity grid to ensure that surplus energy from one country in a specific country could be transmitted to another nation. There are many countries in the region which are surplus in energy in one part but short of electricity in another region.
Official sources said that the bank has found economically feasible Pakistan's plans of developing Gwadar port as transnational hub for Central Asian States (CAS), South Asia, China and the Middle East and has decided to fund at least three mega projects of the overall concept. These include import of 1,000MW of electricity each from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) project.
The sources said the commitment for ADB's support and funding for the three projects has come at the highest level during recent interactions between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the ADB president C. Lawrence. It was not yet clear how much investment would be required for the electricity import projects and what contribution would come from the Asian development, said these sources saying a technical level delegation would be visiting Islamabad in the next few days for more detailed discussions.
The ADB is assisting Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in development of their vast but untapped hydropower potential. It wants the two central Asian republics to export 1,000MW each to Pakistan that currently faces more than 2,500MW of power shortfall in peak demand timings. Energy demand growth rate is now estimated at 10 per cent per annum in Pakistan.
Pakistan has been in discussions with Tajikistan for import of about 1,000MW of electricity and has held at least three formal rounds of discussions on the subject. In one of the formal interactions, major stakeholders like the United States, Afghanistan, Russia and energy giants from the US and Russia had also participated.
The ADB has been working very closely with the World Bank in the recent days to create a regional electricity grid to ensure that surplus energy from one country in a specific country could be transmitted to another nation. There are many countries in the region which are surplus in energy in one part but short of electricity in another region.
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