Officials from the Afghan power supply company Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherka (DABS) on Thursday said reconstruction work on the first phase of two turbines at Naghlo Power Dam has been completed. 

With the completion of reconstruction work on the turbines, the power dam will be able to generate an additional 25-megawatts of electricity, said the officials. 

DABS said that work on the third turbine of the dam will be completed in the next six months. 

World Bank (WB) had announced $6.6  million in aid to the Afghan government to reconstruct the turbines at Naghlo dam. The contract for the reconstruction project was signed with a Russian company. 

According to DABS, the progress on Naghlo power dam is a step forward towards Afghanistan’s self-reliance in power. 

DABS chief Amanullah Ghalib said work on several solar projects was also expected to start in the eastern regions of the country in the near future. 

“We managed to start work on the self-sufficiency projects such as solar energy projects, hydro power energy projects, small hydroelectric projects and mega dams. If God willing, we will get self-reliance in the future. Imported electricity will be replaced by transit power projects and the money which will be received from the transit of electricity can be utilized in our own mega production projects,” said Ghalib. 

Meanwhile, a number of lawmakers in parliament stressed the need for more energy projects to be launched in the country. 

They also called for an end to corruption by certain people involved in power supplying projects. 

“They must try to supply electritiy to the villages in the eastern parts of the country, this will boost our economy and will leave positive impacts on the lives of the people,” said MP Sayed Ekram. 

“We have seen mostly that transmission lines are cut during the summer and some people ask for levies and money. My expectation from the government is to deal with such people as it deals with Taliban and Daesh, money shouldn’t be given to such people,” said MP Saima Khogyani. 

According to DABS, Afghanistan has the capacity to produce 125,000 megawatts of thermal and hydro power, but currently produces only 20 percent of this in hydro power.

Afghanistan needs 7,000 megawatts of power and currently Naghlo Dam in Surobi district of Kabul produces 80 megawatts, Salma Dam in Herat province produces 40 megawatts and Kajaki Dam in Helmand province produces 51 megawatts. But plans are in place for Bagh Dara Dam in Kapisa and Parwan dam to produce an additional 280 megawatts of power over the next five years.