Afghanistan electrical energy and trans-boundary water systems analyses: Challenges and opportunities
Afghanistan is a major country in the central Asian region and its ability to become a bridge between south and central Asia is critical to any form of development and inter-regional collaboration particularly in the energy sector. History has not been kind to Afghanistan and it is a less developed...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2018-11-01
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| Series: | Energy Reports |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484717303219 |
| _version_ | 1818274107710504960 |
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| author | Saadatullah Ahmadzai Alastair McKinna |
| author_facet | Saadatullah Ahmadzai Alastair McKinna |
| author_sort | Saadatullah Ahmadzai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Afghanistan is a major country in the central Asian region and its ability to become a bridge between south and central Asia is critical to any form of development and inter-regional collaboration particularly in the energy sector. History has not been kind to Afghanistan and it is a less developed country with poor governance and weak institutions. However, today there are opportunities to overcome the legacy of the past and seizure the vicious circle of economic regressions and political violence into enhanced political stability and economic development.Afghanistan has sufficient energy resources to provide reliable electricity to its people and industries. Based on MEW estimates it has about 318 GW of renewable energy production capacity. Along with renewables there are significant hydrocarbons and coal resources. But despite the possession of these resources the country has remained underdeveloped with a low electrification rate of only around 30–38%. The deteriorating security conditions remain the main impediment to all the development incentives including the energy sector. The energy sector has technical, financial and institutional constraints. In addition, the trans-boundary water management issue remains a key obstacle for hydropower potential utilization.Almost all rivers of Afghanistan are shared with neighbor countries and except with Iran there is no trans-boundary water sharing agreements with other recipient countries. This has hindered hydropower utilization of Afghanistan. Furthermore, considering weak financial institution of Afghanistan it is a distant possibility for Afghanistan to finance the hydropower projects by its own. Therefore, water sharing disputes resolution with neighboring countries should be the first priority for Afghan government to attract global financial institutions investments.Cooperation grows from communal interests, and south and central Asia are united in the common benefits that both regions will get from energy trade and eventually regional prosperity. Afghanistan is well placed in adjacent proximity to the major hydropower and gas producer states which are desperate to diversify and reach central Asian markets. The country could become a hub of energy transit between the energy deficit south Asia and the energy surplus central Asia.The qualitative research approach has been followed to analyze and find out the key problems and opportunities of the sectors along with PESTLE and SWOT analyses. Keywords: Afghanistan energy resources, Energy transit, Trans-boundary water, Renewable energies, Energy sector constraints |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:08:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-30ccf304dda449c79d6b4f11efb2a9c3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-4847 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:08:36Z |
| publishDate | 2018-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energy Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-30ccf304dda449c79d6b4f11efb2a9c32022-12-22T00:10:18ZengElsevierEnergy Reports2352-48472018-11-014435469Afghanistan electrical energy and trans-boundary water systems analyses: Challenges and opportunitiesSaadatullah Ahmadzai0Alastair McKinna1Computing and Engineering Department, Huddersfield University, Chevening Alumni, West Yorkshire, Huddersfield, UK; Correspondence to: House No: 857, Street 1, Bagh-e-Bala Road, Opp Continental Hotel, Kabul, Afghanistan.University of Huddersfield, Business School & School of Computing & Engineering, UKAfghanistan is a major country in the central Asian region and its ability to become a bridge between south and central Asia is critical to any form of development and inter-regional collaboration particularly in the energy sector. History has not been kind to Afghanistan and it is a less developed country with poor governance and weak institutions. However, today there are opportunities to overcome the legacy of the past and seizure the vicious circle of economic regressions and political violence into enhanced political stability and economic development.Afghanistan has sufficient energy resources to provide reliable electricity to its people and industries. Based on MEW estimates it has about 318 GW of renewable energy production capacity. Along with renewables there are significant hydrocarbons and coal resources. But despite the possession of these resources the country has remained underdeveloped with a low electrification rate of only around 30–38%. The deteriorating security conditions remain the main impediment to all the development incentives including the energy sector. The energy sector has technical, financial and institutional constraints. In addition, the trans-boundary water management issue remains a key obstacle for hydropower potential utilization.Almost all rivers of Afghanistan are shared with neighbor countries and except with Iran there is no trans-boundary water sharing agreements with other recipient countries. This has hindered hydropower utilization of Afghanistan. Furthermore, considering weak financial institution of Afghanistan it is a distant possibility for Afghanistan to finance the hydropower projects by its own. Therefore, water sharing disputes resolution with neighboring countries should be the first priority for Afghan government to attract global financial institutions investments.Cooperation grows from communal interests, and south and central Asia are united in the common benefits that both regions will get from energy trade and eventually regional prosperity. Afghanistan is well placed in adjacent proximity to the major hydropower and gas producer states which are desperate to diversify and reach central Asian markets. The country could become a hub of energy transit between the energy deficit south Asia and the energy surplus central Asia.The qualitative research approach has been followed to analyze and find out the key problems and opportunities of the sectors along with PESTLE and SWOT analyses. Keywords: Afghanistan energy resources, Energy transit, Trans-boundary water, Renewable energies, Energy sector constraintshttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484717303219 |
| spellingShingle | Saadatullah Ahmadzai Alastair McKinna Afghanistan electrical energy and trans-boundary water systems analyses: Challenges and opportunities Energy Reports |
| title | Afghanistan electrical energy and trans-boundary water systems analyses: Challenges and opportunities |
| title_full | Afghanistan electrical energy and trans-boundary water systems analyses: Challenges and opportunities |
| title_fullStr | Afghanistan electrical energy and trans-boundary water systems analyses: Challenges and opportunities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Afghanistan electrical energy and trans-boundary water systems analyses: Challenges and opportunities |
| title_short | Afghanistan electrical energy and trans-boundary water systems analyses: Challenges and opportunities |
| title_sort | afghanistan electrical energy and trans boundary water systems analyses challenges and opportunities |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484717303219 |
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