Afghan admin seals $10B deal for 10k megawatts of electricity

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - Afghanistan's Taliban administration on Saturday sealed a $10 billion deal for the generation, transmission, and distribution of 10,000 megawatts of electricity.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Water and Energy and Azizi Energy Private Company, according to a statement by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Office on X.

As a result of the deal, "within 7 to 10 years, Afghanistan will achieve complete self-sufficiency in electricity production and will even begin exporting it abroad," it said.

The deal is also expected to create new job avenues for millions of Afghans, the statement added.

This deal marks one of the biggest deals since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.

Azizi Energy will use gas, coal, water, wind, and solar energy across various parts of the country to generate the energy, CEO of the company, Mirwais Azizi, said.

The project design is expected to be completed in the next six months.

In the first phase, electricity projects generating 2,000 to 3,000 megawatts will be launched.