VATIS UPDATE Article

Afghanistan’s High Economic Council has approved a plan to deploy 100 MW of renewable en-ergy generation capacity across the country. The plan includes 65 MW of solar, 14 MW from wind power projects, 13.5 MW from biomass and 7.5 MW from hydropower plants. The government said that seven companies have expressed interest in developing the 30 projects of the plan, and that two unnamed devel-opers were deemed eligible.

According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the solar projects selected in the government tender range in size from 1 MW to 30 MW. The largest project is a 30 MW solar diesel hybrid system located in Kandahar, which is especially plagued by electricity shortages. President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said that the energy issues of the region would be also be solved by, among other things, solar energy’s transmission from the Ghazni province.

The second and third biggest projects are a 10 MW solar hydro hybrid plant and a 5 MW rooftop PV system, which will both be located in Kabul. Another 5 MW solar project will be developed in the province of Ghor, while a 3 MW installation will be built in Helmand province. The remaining projects have a capacity between 1.5 MW and 1 MW and are located in other provinces. Overall, these solar projects are expected to require an aggregate investment of $221.5 million.