AKIPRESS.COM - A Turkish company would invest $1.6 billion on an electricity transmission line project involving Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan under an agreement signed on Wednesday, Pajhwok reports.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Afghan acting energy and water minister Mohammad Gul Khulmi and head of the Turkish firm Calik Holding company, Ahmad Calik, at a ceremony held at the Presidential Palace in Kabul.

Afghanistan and Pakistan will receive 1,000 megawatts of electricity annually from the project. Additionally, Afghanistan will receive $100 million annually in transit fee.

The 500kv power line, which will cover 750km in Afghanistan, is expected to be completed in three years.

A trilateral agreement between Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan on the project was signed in December 2015 in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.

At the MoU signing ceremony with the Turkish firm, President Ashraf Ghani and high ranking government figures were present.

The Turkish firm head said his firm would first summit financial and technical proposals within six months to the Ministry of Water and Energy.

The transmission line having a length of 750 kilometers would be started from Torghondi port and after passing through Herat, Farah and Kandahar provinces would reach Pakistan’s Quetta city through the Spin Boldak border district.

The Turkish firm would invest $1.6 billion on the power transmission line and set up two circuits with a capacity of 2000 megawatts and 500kv substations in Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.