Afghan government signs MoU with UAE firm to build solar power plant

[Kailash Kumar]

Govt signs MoU with UAE firm to build solar power plant

August 11, 2020

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a solar power plant has been signed between the government of Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates-based PAL 4 Solar Energy LLC.

The office of the presidency said Tuesday in a statement that the project would be implemented across the country.

The MoU was signed by Mohammad Zafar, managing director of the solar power company, Ataullah Nasib, head of the Investment Facilitation Unit of the Office of the President, and Ahmad Daud Noorzai the CEO of Afghanistan’s power company, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), in the presence of Kabir Isakhel, Chief Legal Advisor for President Ashraf Ghani.

Once complete, the project will provide the opportunity for Afghanistan to generate up to 3,000 MW of electricity across the country.

The agreement was signed at the Afghan Embassy in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE.

According to the agreement, the UAE company will invest in the installation of solar panel plants which will produce electricity.

Currently, Afghanistan has three solar power plants – in Bamiyan, Herat, and Kandahar provinces.

The Kandahar Solar Power plant worth $39 million generates 30 megawatts of electricity. The solar power plant installed in Bamiyan provides electricity to thousands of Bamiyan families.

The renewable energy resource potential of Afghanistan is estimated at over 300,000 MW, the Ministry of Energy and Water has stated in the past.

This includes natural gas, biomass, hydropower, solar, and wind power.

Major progress has however been made in the past decade by Afghanistan, along with private investors, to turn the land-locked nation into a self-sustainable energy-producing country as a significant amount of electricity is still imported from neighboring countries.

In 2017, a report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) stated that Afghanistan has the potential to produce 67,000 megawatts of electricity from wind energy, 220,000 megawatts electricity from solar energy, 4,000 megawatts of clean energy from biomass and 23,000 megawatts of electricity from water resources annually.

https://ariananews.af/govt-signs-mou-with-uae-firm-to-build-solar-power-plant/

 

[Kailash Kumar]

Govt Explains Relationship with UAE’s Solar Energy Company

Zabihullah Jahanmal

TODAY

The Afghanistan Investment Facilitation Unit on Saturday defended a recent agreement made with UAE-based PAL 4 Solar Energy LLC, calling the company credible and trusted. A project with the company will reportedly generate 3,000 megawatts of solar energy in Afghanistan.

According to the Afghanistan Investment Facilitation Unit, the agreement was only a preliminary accord for attracting investments to Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, officials of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) have said that PAL 4 Solar Energy LLC will conduct a feasibility assessment of the solar projects in Afghanistan, and that the company will take responsibility for the expenditures in this regard.

But, Mirwais Alimi, the former head of commercial operations of Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS)--the country’s main power supplying company—previously said that the Afghan government over the past 18 years has failed to sign even small capacity projects, and added that a project for such a high volume of electricity is beyond the government’s capacity.

“The PAL 4 Solar Energy LLC will conduct feasibility assessments in Afghanistan within eight months,” said Nazeem Zamoon, Representative of the Legal Advisory Board of Office of the President.

“It is true that this company was registered at the beginning of the year with International Holdings, but PAL 4 is not supposed to bring investment in Afghanistan, investment will be brought by International Holdings,” said Attaullah Naseeb, the head of Afghanistan Investment Facilitation Unit.

“First they will conduct their surveys and studies, then, after conducting a series of assessments, they will then sit with DABS to find out how much they will invest and where,” said Zabihullah Tahirzada, deputy head of operations for DABS.

Last year the government and DABS announced that they were jointly working on a solar power project that would be able to generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity. However, until now the two sides have not managed to identify a place for it.

Experts say that the current power system of Afghanistan doesn't have the capacity to handle 3,000 megawatts of power.

https://tolonews.com/business/govt-explains-relationship-uae’s-solar-energy-company