Uzbekistan Extends Electricity Supplies to Afghanistan Through 2026 as Grid Expansion Advances

A new supply contract, with bigger grid projects still underway

Uzbekistan has signed a contract to continue supplying electricity to Afghanistan through calendar year 2026, while both countries push forward with transmission lines and substations intended to carry more power from the Uzbek border toward Kabul and eastern Afghanistan. The infrastructure program, valued at roughly $243 million to $250 million, has completion milestones extending to April 1, 2027.

The agreement followed talks in Tashkent between Uzbek Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov and Abdul Bari Omar, chief executive of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), Afghanistan's national electricity utility. Uzenergosotish, Uzbekistan's centralized power trader, signed the contract on the Uzbek side under the oversight of the Ministry of Energy.

Afghanistan imports roughly 800 megawatts of electricity from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran, compared with domestic generation capacity of around 250 megawatts. Those imports cost an estimated $250 million to $280 million a year. Keeping deliveries running matters to households, hospitals and businesses while construction continues on the network needed to move more electricity around the country.

The two sides agreed to accelerate a package of projects launched in late summer. It includes a 500 kilovolt corridor linking Surkhan in Uzbekistan with Dasht e Alwan and Puli Khumri, an expansion of the Arghandeh substation near Kabul, a new Sheikh Mesri substation in Nangarhar, and an extension of the 220 kilovolt line between Kabul and Nangarhar.

What the 2026 agreement covers

Uzenergosotish and DABS formalized supplies for 2026 while reviewing progress on new high voltage lines and substations inside Afghanistan. Officials agreed to speed up construction and the process of bringing completed equipment into service so that additional electricity can flow sooner.

The specific volume to be delivered in 2026 was not disclosed. Electricity schedules can change from month to month with seasonal demand, maintenance and conditions across the connected systems. The annual contract keeps deliveries active while the construction program expands the network's ability to carry power into major centres of demand.

A longer commercial arrangement also remains part of the relationship. In 2019, Uzbekistan's national grid entered a contract with DABS lasting ten years, allowing deliveries of up to 6 billion kilowatt hours annually. Uzenergosotish now performs the sales role previously handled by the national grid.

That agreement uses a take or pay arrangement. This means the buyer pays for a minimum amount of electricity even if it does not take all of that amount. The commitment gives the seller greater certainty when planning generation and investment, while actual delivery schedules still depend on the conditions set out in the contract.

How much Afghanistan depends on imported power

DABS estimates that Afghanistan imports about 800 megawatts, against internal generation capacity of approximately 250 megawatts. Domestic plants face constraints from aging equipment and limited fuel, leaving urban centres dependent on steady electricity flows from the north and west.

The import figure is 3.2 times the stated domestic capacity: 800 divided by 250. That comparison shows the scale of Afghanistan's reliance on neighbouring suppliers. A megawatt measures power available or flowing at a particular moment, while a kilowatt hour measures the amount of electricity delivered over time.

Afghanistan's annual electricity import bill of $250 million to $280 million places a substantial burden on its fragile economy. Past unpaid bills added another risk to the supply relationship. In February 2024, DABS said it had cleared $627 million in debts accumulated over several years under contracts with Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Clearing those balances reduced the risk of interruptions caused by nonpayment. Supply still faces other pressures, including seasonal changes in water availability for hydropower, limits on transmission across borders, and technical failures that can shut down a line or transformer.

The new construction program addresses some of those physical constraints. Stronger transmission routes can reduce losses over long distances and give grid operators more options for redirecting electricity when faults occur. The supply contract and the infrastructure works therefore serve different needs: one maintains the commercial flow of electricity, while the other increases the network's ability to carry it.

The main transmission route from Uzbekistan

The 500 kilovolt corridor from Surkhan through Dasht e Alwan to Puli Khumri is the anchor for larger electricity deliveries from Uzbekistan. The segment is about 200.6 kilometres long and forms part of a longer route intended to move imported power onward to Kabul and other centres of demand.

Higher voltage allows a transmission line to carry large amounts of electricity with lower heat losses. In simple terms, less energy is lost on the journey, so more of the electricity supplied at the border can reach users farther away.

The projects are designed to enable imports of between 800 and 1,000 megawatts into the Afghan grid as equipment enters service. Reaching those levels depends on the connected lines and substations being ready to handle the flows safely.

Construction involves towers, conductors, transformers and control systems. Conductors carry electricity along the line, transformers change its voltage, and control systems help operators manage the network. Project managers have been asked to shorten construction schedules where feasible while maintaining reliability and safety standards.

Substations and the timetable for more capacity

Arghandeh, near Kabul, is scheduled for expansion to 800 megavolt amperes. The work is intended to handle more electricity for greater Kabul and improve stability in the local network. In Nangarhar, the new Sheikh Mesri substation is planned with a rating of 126 megavolt amperes and should improve voltage control and reliability in the east.

Substations connect different parts of the electricity network and convert very high transmission voltages to lower voltages suitable for distribution. Their ratings in megavolt amperes describe the electrical load they can handle, including active power, which does useful work, and reactive power, which helps maintain the electrical conditions needed for equipment to operate.

Reactive power equipment at substations helps keep voltage stable. That matters because electricity must arrive within a suitable voltage range for the network and connected equipment to work reliably. The Arghandeh expansion and Sheikh Mesri construction are paired with an extension of the 220 kilovolt Kabul to Nangarhar line.

The package is valued at roughly $243 million to $250 million. Work is staged, allowing some completed assets to be energized and begin partial service while construction continues elsewhere. Each finished line segment or substation gives operators more flexibility to send power toward areas with the greatest need.

The schedule describes full delivery around the end of the first quarter of 2027, with program milestones running through April 1, 2027. Earlier partial completions are possible. As components are commissioned, planners expect to be able to schedule larger transfers across the border with fewer bottlenecks and better reliability.

The main dates in Afghanistan's electricity supply and construction arrangements are:

• 2016: CASA 1000 was first agreed as a regional project to carry summer hydropower across four countries.
• 2019: Uzbekistan's national grid signed a take or pay agreement with DABS lasting ten years and allowing up to 6 billion kilowatt hours annually.
• August 2021: Work stopped on the Afghan section of CASA 1000 amid the change in government.
• February 2024: DABS said it had cleared $627 million in accumulated electricity import debts.
• March and May 2025: Afghan officials gave updates on CASA 1000 financing, construction progress and the expected completion period.
• Late summer 2025: The transmission and substation expansion package was launched.
• 2026: The new Uzbek electricity supply contract covers the calendar year.
• April 1, 2027: The infrastructure program's completion milestones extend to this date.

Why CASA 1000 is another part of the picture

CASA 1000 is a separate regional electricity project designed to move surplus summer hydropower from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan. First agreed in 2016, it has a budget of about $1.2 billion and includes transmission infrastructure across all four countries.

Afghanistan has two roles in the project. Electricity will pass through its territory on the way to Pakistan, and Afghanistan will also take some power for its own use. This makes completion of the Afghan section necessary for the wider route to operate.

Work in Afghanistan stopped in August 2021 amid the change in government. At that point, 18 percent of the towers in the country had been erected and roughly 95 percent of the required materials had been supplied.

Financing institutions later decided to resume support because the sections in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan were close to completion. Leaving the Afghan section unfinished risked stranding those assets, meaning infrastructure built elsewhere could not perform its intended function because the connecting route remained incomplete.

The Afghan segment had previously been awarded to an Indian contractor. Its initial construction timetable of three years proved unrealistic as security problems and financing delays interrupted the work.

How CASA 1000 financing and progress are being handled

Financing for the Afghan section of CASA 1000 is structured so that payments and revenues are managed outside Afghanistan and do not pass through Taliban administration systems. International partners have arranged for funds to be handled outside government systems, with escrow arrangements and independent oversight.

Escrow means money is held and released under agreed conditions rather than paid directly into the usual government channels. These arrangements are intended to reduce legal and sanctions risks for suppliers and lenders while allowing the electricity project to proceed.

Officials in Kabul said in March 2025 that money had not yet reached the project, while claiming that the Afghan section was 70 percent complete. That was a later construction update than the August 2021 figure, which measured the share of towers erected when work stopped.

In May 2025, DABS chief executive Abdul Bari Omar said work had resumed and forecast completion within one to two years. His estimate placed the project on a longer timetable than the immediate need to maintain electricity imports through 2026.

Afghanistan will continue relying on bilateral imports from its neighbours until CASA 1000 begins commercial electricity flows, with Uzbekistan serving as a central supplier. Once operating, CASA 1000 should provide a more varied supply mix across seasons, reduce dependence on a single supply route and give operators greater flexibility to balance the system.

Uzbekistan's exports fit a wider regional exchange

Uzbekistan gains export revenue and closer regional ties from electricity sales to Afghanistan. During the Tashkent discussions, the Uzbek side referred to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's recent statements at regional forums and the United Nations calling for practical support for the Afghan people and opposing the country's isolation.

Energy cooperation is a central part of that approach. Electricity trade provides immediate benefits to people and businesses while creating an ongoing economic relationship between the two countries.

Uzbekistan also has to balance exports against rising demand at home and the seasonal shortages that affect Central Asia in winter. Keeping export commitments therefore requires planning around domestic consumption, available generation and the conditions of neighbouring grids.

Uzbekistan is scheduled to supply 900 million kilowatt hours to Kazakhstan between March and December 2026. That commitment is part of a broader regional arrangement coordinating water releases from Kyrgyzstan's Toktogul Reservoir with electricity exchanges.

The arrangement connects electricity planning with water management and agriculture. Water releases and power exchanges have to be coordinated across countries, adding another set of commitments for operators managing Uzbekistan's electricity supplies alongside exports to Afghanistan.

What keeps electricity moving reliably

Electricity agreements commonly combine commitments about capacity with schedules for energy delivery. Capacity describes how much power a system can carry at a given moment. Energy records how much is delivered over a period. A line's voltage, its carrying capacity and the energy sold through it describe different parts of the same operation.

Grid operators must keep reserves available and hold frequency and voltage within tight limits. Frequency describes the rhythm of the alternating electrical current. Even small deviations from operating limits can activate protection systems, disconnect equipment and cause outages.

Contracts account for planned outages, reductions in deliveries and payment security. Construction adds the physical ability to move more electricity, while these operating and commercial arrangements govern how that ability is used from day to day.

Afghanistan's 2026 agreement maintains supply during a period when major improvements are still being built. The Surkhan corridor, the Kabul and Nangarhar works, and CASA 1000 address different parts of the country's electricity needs. Together, their intended benefits are greater transfer capacity, more stable local networks and a wider choice of supply routes.

Key Points

• Uzenergosotish and DABS signed a contract to continue Uzbek electricity supplies to Afghanistan throughout 2026 after talks in Tashkent.
• A ten year take or pay framework signed in 2019 allows deliveries of up to 6 billion kilowatt hours annually.
• Afghanistan imports about 800 megawatts, compared with domestic generation capacity of roughly 250 megawatts, and pays an estimated $250 million to $280 million a year for imports.
• DABS said in February 2024 that it had cleared $627 million in accumulated debts to regional electricity suppliers.
• A construction package worth roughly $243 million to $250 million includes a 500 kilovolt route of about 200.6 kilometres and upgrades near Kabul and in Nangarhar.
• The projects aim to enable imports of 800 to 1,000 megawatts, with staged completion milestones extending to April 1, 2027.
• CASA 1000 has resumed with Afghan project payments and revenues managed outside Taliban administration systems. Omar forecast completion within one to two years in May 2025.
• Uzbekistan also plans to supply Kazakhstan with 900 million kilowatt hours from March to December 2026 under a regional arrangement linked to water management.