Kabul power outage was caused by the Taliban rulers failure to pay countries that supply them with electricity. There is also a likelihood that the government has not resumed collection of money from the citizens who use the electricity.
Afghanistan imports electricity from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. These countries are responsible for supplying 50% of Afghanistan’s power consumption. Iran supplies electric power to Western Afghanistan. Afghanistan produces its own electricity mainly from hydro-power stations but production this year has been negatively affected by drought.
Afghanistan does not have a national power grid hence Kabul depends on power imported from the countries mentioned above.
Currently, the relationship between Tajikistan and Afghanistan is fast deteriorating. This will affect power supply because Tajikistan is the main power supplier to Afghanistan. Therefore, Tajikistan may decide to cut off the power supply for non-payment of electrical fees.
Daud Noorzai, who resigned as the CEO of Afghanistan’s state power supplier- Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat, warned that if this issue is not addressed urgently, it will cause a humanitarian disaster.
“The consequences would be countrywide, but especially in Kabul. There will be blackout and it would bring Afghanistan back to the Dark Ages when it comes to power and to telecommunications,” said Mr. Noorzai, who remains in close contact with DABS’s remaining management. “This would be a really dangerous situation.”
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