The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved a $110 million grant to boost power supply and strengthen Afghanistan’s energy sector by improving its sustainability and promoting cross-border trade in energy.

The project will help address Afghanistan’s chronic power shortage by immediately doubling the volume of power imports and ensuring long-term cost-competitive electricity supply. It will facilitate the Afghan system’s first parallel (synchronous) operation with the Uzbek system and the Central Asia Power System (CAPS). Once complete, the project will provide improved access to customers and facilitate 500,000 new connections to households, commercial entities, and industrial customers.