Uzbekistan Restores Electricity Exports to Afghanistan After Earthquake Disruption

Uzbekistan has resumed electricity exports to Afghanistan after an earthquake damaged transmission lines and temporarily disrupted power supply.

According to Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), the Afghan state power company, electricity has now been restored across 11 provinces, including Kabul and Baghlan, The Caspian Post reports, citing Uzbek media.

DABS informed that strong tremors late Sunday night in Afghanistan’s Samangan and Balkh provinces damaged the power transmission network delivering electricity from Uzbekistan. The restoration process was complicated by aftershocks, landslides, and strong winds.

Despite these challenges, DABS repair crews managed to fix the damaged infrastructure and fully restore imported electricity by Tuesday evening, the company said.

With the resumption of power supply, electricity has now been restored in Kabul, Baghlan, Parwan, Panjshir, Kapisa, Logar, Paktia, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Laghman, and Nangarhar provinces. The company also confirmed that electricity imports from Tajikistan have been restored.

Currently, Afghanistan produces around 250 MW of electricity domestically and purchases an additional 800 MW from Turkmenistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan at an annual cost of $250-280 million. Among these suppliers, Uzbekistan remains Afghanistan’s main source of imported electricity.

The earthquake, which struck the border area between Balkh and Samangan provinces late Sunday night, measured 6.3 in magnitude. According to the latest reports, 27 people were killed and more than 960 injured as a result of the disaster.