Taliban Plans to Buy Electricity from Iran to Reduce Shortage
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Due to the worsening economic situation and the power shortage in Afghanistan, the Taliban plans to import 100 megawatts of electrical power from Iran.
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Afghanistan is facing a severe power shortage (AFP)
On Sunday, Afghan local media revealed that the Afghan National Electricity Company is planning to import electricity from Iran in the hope of avoiding a looming power crisis in the country.
According to the Afghan Tolo News network, the national power utility (DABS) announced a deal to purchase 100 megawatts of electrical power.
A spokesman for the national power utility told Tolo News that the power supply imported from Iran will focus on western Afghanistan, specifically in the provinces of Herat, Farah, and Nimroz, with the aim of solving the electricity shortage problem faced by the population in these areas.
The former CEO of the Afghan national power utility, who departed after the Taliban took control of the country, revealed that the company owed about $90 million to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
He added that these countries will have their justification to stop supplying energy to Afghanistan under the pretext of unfulfilled due payments.
The majority of Afghanistan's power came from neighboring countries
The electricity grid in Afghanistan has been in a state of instability since the Taliban toppled the US-backed Afghan government last August. The majority of Afghanistan's power came from abroad. This has accumulated power-related debts due to neighboring countries.
US-based newspaper The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that Kabul faces a blackout in the winter if the Taliban don’t pay their electricity suppliers.
A worsening economic situation
The Afghan economy, already bad, has worsened since the Taliban took power. The movement banned the use of foreign currencies in Afghanistan earlier this month, describing the economic situation as "bad."
The Taliban government was denied access to the foreign reserves the past government had accumulated, including nearly $10 billion in the US for the Afghan Central Bank.
On September 15, the Afghan Central Bank announced the recovery of $12.3 million from former government officials, a month after the Taliban movement, which denounced the corruption of the former regime and called for transparency, seized power in the country.
