DUSHANBE, October 12, 2015, Asia-Plus – The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) will provide 70 million U.S. dollars to Tajikistan for implementation of the Central Asia South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade (Casa-1000) Project, according to Tajikistan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) Secretariat.

A loan agreement for 70 million U.S. dollars was reportedly signed in Lima, Peru on October 9.  The document was inked by Tajik Minister of Finance Abdusalom Qurboniyon and IsDB Group President Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali.   

The amount of this project is reportedly allocated to co-finance construction of the Tajik section of the regional power transmission line.

All sources of funding of the Tajik section are identified.  To-date, the loan and grant agreements worth $314 million have been signed and another loan for $70 million is allocated by the IsDB.

In addition, agreements on $7.5 million with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and $38.5 million with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) are expected to be signed.

The CASA 1000 project is scheduled to be completed in 2020. The total cost of the project amounts to more than $1 billion.

We will recall that the Project is expected to develop the necessary physical infrastructure and create the institutional and legal framework to transmit surplus power available from existing generation facilities in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The physical infrastructure for CASA 1000 is likely to include: a 500 kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system between Tajikistan and Pakistan through Afghanistan; an AC transmission link from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to connect to the HVDC line from Tajikistan to South Asia;  and the necessary electricity sub-stations in Kabul, Peshawar and Sangtuda (in Tajikistan).

The World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank have reportedly expressed their readiness to finance the Project.  Besides, Russia expressed interest to invest 500 million U.S. dollars in the CASA 1000 project.