CASA-1000 Construction Progress

CASA-1000 CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

All Engineering, Procurement, and Construction contracts for the CASA-1000 Project have been awarded. The first three construction contracts for CASA-1000 facilities were signed in December 2017. Since then, seven contracts have been awarded, signed and activated, with field construction activities started on all ten contracts by April, 2021.

Dedicated Kick-off Meetings (KOMs) for all CASA-1000 EPC Contracts were held between the Employers (the National Transmission Companies (NTCs) of the CASA-1000 countries) and Contractors. The Owner Engineers (OE) and the CASA-1000 Secretariat also participated. The HVDC OE (CESI) and HVAC OE (Monenco) are engaged and are advising the CASA-1000 NTCs on EPC Contractor performance.

CASA-1000 Interactive map                                                                                                          Country outlines are illustrative only

The dashed lines and blue circles indicate CASA-1000 facilities currently under construction

Key components of this construction program include:

  1. Two HVDC Converter Stations located at Sangtuda, TJ and Nowshera, PK that act as the link between the HVAC and HVDC sections of the project.
  2. A 789 km of HVDC transmission lines that connect the two Converter Stations across southern Tajikistan (101 km), northwest Afghanistan (575 km) and northeast Pakistan (113 km).
  3. A total of 598 km of HVAC transmission lines running across Tajikistan (142 km) to connect to the CASA-1000 HVAC transmission lines in Kyrgyzstan (456 km) at the Tajik – Kyrgyz border.

In total, 4,264 transmission towers will be constructed, of which 2,779 were completed by July 31, 2024. 
The following chart indicates progress on the construction of transmission towers across the four CASA-1000 countries. As of July 31, 2024, 1,243 towers (100%) were completed in Kyrgyzstan, 846 (100%) were completed in Tajikistan, 375 towers (81%) were completed in Pakistan and 315 (18%) were completed in Afghanistan.

The stringing of electric power conductor cables is complete in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and is expected to be complete by year-end 2024 in Pakistan.

Kyrgyzstan

  • As part of the implementation of the CASA-1000 project in Kyrgyzstan, the following work has been completed 100% so far: Laying access roads to the towers, excavating foundations, pouring concrete for the tower foundations, and installing all 1,243 towers.
  • Currently, work is underway to string the electrical conductor wires, with 442 km (97%) of the wires already suspended. In total, 456 kilometers of transmission lines will be laid in Kyrgyzstan.
  • At the Datka substation, major construction and installation work has been successfully completed. Specifically, a 500 kV shunt reactor with accessories, a neutral grounding, an oil pit, and fire barriers were installed, along with three sets of 500 kV circuit breakers, three sets of 500 kV current transformers, six lightning rods at 500 kV, and other equipment. Additionally, more than 475 meters of power and control cables have been laid.
  • The environmental assessment issues of the CASA-1000 project have been fully resolved, including the land transformation in the Batken, Osh, and Jalal-Abad regions for the construction of project facilities, and compensation to those affected by the resettlement work under the project.

Tajikistan

  • Structure and equipment installation at the Sangtuda Converter Station site is 100% complete, and total construction is now over 97% complete.
  • Construction to upgrade two substation sites along the CASA-1000 route (Sugd-500 and Regar-500) in Tajikistan is complete.
  • The construction of power lines in Tajikistan along the entire length of the CASA-1000 system in the country is almost completed. This includes: construction of the HVDC line from Sangtuda to the border with Afghanistan, the 66 kV electrode line, the 500 kV Line from Regar to Sangtuda and the 500 kV line from the Sugd-500 Substation to the border with Kyrgyzstan have been completed in full, and only a small amount of work remains to be completed on connecting Convertor Station Sangtuda to HPS Sangtuda -1.

Afghanistan

  • Although construction is already well advanced (since construction activities began in Afghanistan before all other CASA-1000 countries), construction has been temporarily suspended in light of the recent developments there.

Pakistan

  • CONVERTER STATION (TW01)

    • Construction work at the Nowshera Converter Station site continues.
    • All remaining material to be installed is on site.
    • All six major Converter Transformers and related Shunt Reactors are installed.
    • 97% of civil works, 98% of installation and 65% of equipment testing have been completed.
    • Overall progress is 91.7%.

    ELECTRODE STATION:

    • Rights to the 500 m x 500 m land plot at the remote Charsadda Electrode Station site were previously transferred to NTDC and the boundary wall around the site completed.
    • The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report has been previously approved by the World Bank.
    • Land compensation and Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) amounts have been paid to the prior landowners.
    • The construction contract was awarded to M/s Hitachi and the site handed over to them to initiate construction on 31st July 2023. Construction is continuing.
    • Overall progress is 75.8%.

    • TRANSMISSION LINE (TW02):

      • The definitive route alignment, soil investigations and site layouts for the 376 transmission tower locations on the 113 km HVDC route between Nowshera and the Afghanistan border are completed
      • ESIA and Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) reports have been previously approved by the World Bank.
      • 374 (99.5%) of transmission towers have been erected.
      • The contractor M/s Netracon has been instructed to initiate conductor wire stringing and is mobilizing the required crews.
      • Overall progress is 74.8%.

      ELECTRODE LINE:

      • The definitive route alignment, soil investigations and site layouts for the 88 tower locations for the 24 km, 66 kV earth electrode line from Nowshera to Charsadda are complete.
      • The RAP and ESIA reports have been previously approved by the World Bank.
      • 52 (59%) tower foundations are complete, and the first transmission tower is erected.
      • Overall progress is 53%.

Critical Construction Policy Documents

Project Information Document (English)
Project Information Document (Russian)
Integrated Safeguards Datasheet (English)
RPF Afghanistan (English)
RPF Kyrgyzstan (English)
RPF Pakistan (English)
RPF Tajikistan (English)
Regional Environmental Assessment (English)
ESIA and ESMP of CASA-1000: Feasibility Stage, by Integrated Environments Ltd (IEL) (Russian)