Tarakhil Power Plant
| Tarakhil Power Plant | |
|---|---|
 View of the Tarakhil power station, near Kabul, Afghanistan | |
| Country | Afghanistan |
| Location | Near Kabul |
| Construction began | 2007 |
| Commission date | 2009 |
| Construction cost | $335 million USD |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 105MW |
The Tarakhil Power Plant is an oil-fired electricity-producing power plant near Kabul, Afghanistan. Backed by USAID, the plant came online in 2009.[1] The plant, built at a cost of $335 million USD[2] and designed to provide a more reliable electricity source for Kabul, has typically operated at a fraction of its capacity and provided meagre annual outputs of electricity.[1][3] A 2015 report cited the plant's average annual output as 2% of its capacity, due to the high cost of importing diesel fuel into Afghanistan.[2][4] Press reports have frequently referred to the plant as the "white elephant of Kabul".[5][4]
History
[edit]Land for the plant was donated by Afghan president Hamid Karzai in 2007.[6] Construction, executed by the US firm Black & Veatch, began the same year.[6] The plant was opened in 2009.[6][7] While USAID had estimated that the plant would cost only $120 million USD, it ultimately cost $335 million.[8]
Operations
[edit]At full capacity, the plant burns 600,000 litres (130,000 imp gal; 160,000 US gal) of diesel fuel per day.[8] Designed to provide a more reliable electricity source for Kabul, from July 2010 to December 2013, the plant produced 2.2 percent of its rated nameplate capacity.[7] Between 2014 and 2015, the plant produced less than 0.5% of Kabul's electricity needs.[1][9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "12 Ways Your Tax Dollars Were Wasted in Afghanistan". NBC News.
- ^ a b "Diesel Gensets Aim at the Future". POWER Magazine. 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Report to the United States Congress" (PDF). sigar.mil. p. 39.
- ^ a b Walsh, Nick Paton. "Is US-Afghan power plant a white elephant?". channel4.com.
- ^ "Kansas in Middle East? How US has – and hasn't – changed Afghanistan". Christian Science Monitor. 3 December 2019.
- ^ a b c "Tarakhil Power Plant". www.usaid.gov. 7 May 2019.
- ^ a b Wise, Lindsay. "Watchdog: U.S.-funded power plant in Afghanistan at risk of 'catastrophic failure'". mcclatchydc.com.
- ^ a b "Paying Off The Warlords". www.cbsnews.com.
- ^ EDT, Lucy Westcott On 8/13/15 at 12:50 PM (13 August 2015). "U.S. Paid $335 Million for a Power Plant in Afghanistan No One Is Using". Newsweek.
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