Senior energy officials from Turkmenistan and Afghanistan met in Kabul to discuss the advancement of the TAP-500 power transmission project, marking a new chapter in regional energy cooperation.
Myrat Artykov, Head of the Department of International Electric Power Projects of Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Energy, met with Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of Water and Energy, Abdul Latif Mansoor, in a high-level discussion attended by Turkmenistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Khoja Ovezov, along with other officials from both countries.
During the talks, Abdul Latif Mansoor praised the good relations between the two countries and positively assessed the progress of the 500-kilovolt Turkmenistan-Afghanistan power line project.
Emphasizing the importance of the TAP (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan) international project, he called for accelerating the practical implementation of the project.
He confirmed that Afghanistan is ready to implement this project and hopes that other aspects of the project will also be prepared soon by holding coordination and technical meetings to create conditions for the practical launch.
In turn, Myrat Artykov briefed on the full readiness of Turkmenistan to implement this project and noted that a draft roadmap has been prepared for the advancement of the project, so that after its approval and finalization, practical steps will be taken.
A significant outcome of the meeting was the mutual agreement to establish a TAP project secretariat in Afghanistan. Both parties also agreed to arrange a trilateral discussion involving Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to further discuss the TAP project in the near future.
This meeting follows a recent trilateral gathering in Kabul between representatives of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Turkey’s Çalık Holding Group, hosted by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The TAP-500 project represents a major infrastructure initiative designed to transmit high-voltage electricity from Turkmenistan through several Afghan provinces, including Herat, Farah, Helmand, and Kandahar, before reaching Pakistan. The project is expected to not only address domestic power needs in Afghanistan but also generate substantial transit revenue through electricity exports to Pakistan.