ISLAMABAD: The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) on Saturday approved additional financing of $13 million for the Central Asia South Asia Electricity Trans­mission and Trade Project (CASA-1000) that aims to meet the electricity demand in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The additional financing was approved by the IsDB board of executive directors during a meeting at its Jeddah-based headquarters. IsDB President and Group Chairman Dr Muhammad Al Jasser chaired the meeting, the bank said in a press release.

The CASA-1000 project will facilitate the first electricity trade of 1,300MW of existing summertime hydropower surplus between the two regions, involving the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan in Central Asia and Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia.

The CASA-1000 project will meet the electricity demand of Pakistan and Afgha­nistan through the establishment of cross-border energy exchange among four ISDB member countries as part of the bank’s regional economic integration strategy.

Once operational, the project will utilise efficient and environmentally friendly indigenous hydropower resources of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, creating conditions for sustainable electricity trade between Central and South Asia.

The World Bank is financing the CASA-1000 project with the IsDB, USAID, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank and UK Department for Intern­ational Develo­pment. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is helping structure and competitively tender a series of public-private partnerships to attract key private sector players in electricity transmission.

The World Bank is helping the governments of four countries develop a cross-border energy market that will contribute to meeting the growing energy demand in Afghanistan and Pakistan, by transferring surplus summer power from the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2023