THREAD
With winter now really getting cold, most of Kabul residents – when coming home from work – would like to switch on their lights and start cooking and heating their houses. However, during these peak hours, from five in the afternoon to ten in the evening,

there is regularly a gap of at least 300 megawatts (MW) between what citizens need in terms of electricity and what @DABS_Official – can offer. DABS, the national power utility, states that Kabul’s current demand is 750 MW.

But the capital currently receives only ~280 MW via transmission lines coming from abroad – in winter, from Uzbekistan – and 100 to 150 MW from domestic hydropower plants (Naghlu, Mahipar and Sarobi, all on Kabul River Basin). And 80 MW from Tarakhil diesel power plant.

This is why many houses in Kabul stay dark and unheated these days, or have flickering lights and technical devices that do not work due to poor voltage.

How to overcome the electricity deficit in Kabul?
The answer is simple: The under-construction 500 kV transmission line from Pul-e Khumri to Kabul has to be completed asap with the 500 kV substation in Arghandi. This line’s construction is delayed by 4 yrs.

The existing 220 kV line has already been exhausted by Kabul’s energy demand. This was not supposed to occur for 15 to 20 yrs. The new 500 kV line will enable the transmission of energy (more than 1000 MW) from Turkmenistan to Kabul.

DABS increases the size of its distribution network in urban areas by connecting more customers (more load) every year. In 2003, electricity consumers in Kabul were fewer than 85k, now it's nearly 650k. 7-fold increase.

DABS is of course expected to increase distribution, as its mandate is to bring electrical power to the Afghan people. It also needs to work profitably, to be able to pay the electricity exporting countries (last year, DABS paid more than $290 million in cost of electricity).

Distribution expansion usually happens in summer, when the national grid has surplus energy from hydropower plants. However, during winter, when energy consumption increases with the drop in temperature for heating,

and due to the non-availability of hydropower (in winter, water levels in reservoirs are low), the shortage of electricity necessitates a high level of load shedding.