Kabul, Oct 20 (IANS ) The Afghan caretaker government's acting Energy and Water Minister Abdul Latif Mansoor has said that his war-torn country has access to 900 Megawatts of electricity and that efforts were underway to increase its capacity to 1,000 Megawatts, the state media reported.
According to the state-run media outlet, the official made the remarks in his speech at the inauguration ceremony of a 10-megawatt solar energy project in Naglo district, 60 km east of Kabul, on Saturday, state-run Bakhtar news agency said.
According to official sources, Afghanistan produces around 300 Megawatts of power from domestic sources and imports 620 Megawatts annually from the neighbouring countries of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran, and Turkmenistan, Xinhua news agency reported quoting Bakhtar.
To overcome the power shortage, the administration has been working on solar panels and gas-generating power, and building water dams in several provinces.
Power shortages and load shedding are everywhere in Afghanistan, including the capital city of Kabul. Residents of the capital city have been regularly suffering from power shortages for eight to 10 hours out of 24 hours a day.
The Afghan administration laid the foundation stone of a 22.75 Megawatt solar generating energy outside Kabul a couple of weeks ago. With the support of the private sector at $18.2 million, the project would be completed in 10 months.