Uzbekistan Extends Electricity Export Agreement with Afghanistan Until 2025

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have extended their agreement to supply electricity to Afghanistan's market in 2025, according to a source in Uzbekistan's Energy Ministry, The Caspian Post reports citing Interfax.

The relevant parties singed the document following talks by the Uzbek delegation headed by Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov in Kabul.

The agreement was concluded between the companies for the centralized purchase and sale of electricity of Uzbekistan, Uzenergosotish, and Afghanistan's Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS).

The parties also discussed constructing the 500 kV Surkhan-Puli-Khumri high-voltage power transmission line (HVPL) from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan, whose deadlines have been repeatedly postponed.

Uzbekistan's JSC National Electric Grids, whose legal successor for the sale of electricity was Uzenergosotish, signed a contract with DABS in 2019 to supply up to 6 billion kWh of electricity annually for a period of ten years on a take-or-pay basis. In 2023, 1.82 billion kWh of electricity was supplied to the Afghan side. The volumes exported this year and scheduled for 2025 have not been reported.

Afghanistan imports electricity from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.