The Naghlu Dam ( ps, نغلو برېښناکوټ) is a

gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it ...

on the Kabul River in Surobi District of

Kabul Province Kabul (Persian: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is also Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province i ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. It is located east of the nation's capital

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

. The primary purpose of the dam is

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

production. The dam supports a

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

with a design capacity of 100 MW of electricity. It is connected to the national grid of Afghanistan, and is currently the largest power plant in the country. It provides electricity to about 100,000

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...

s in the Kabul region. The Naghlu Dam is tall, long and its

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

has a storage capacity of . The dam and its reservoir are managed by the Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water. Its power station is operated by Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat. Construction of Naghlu Dam was financed and supervised by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

between January 1960 and 1968. The first generator was commissioned earlier in 1967. After the 1992 collapse of the Soviet-backed

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. The PDPA came to power ...

, the power station was used by supporters of

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ( ps, ګلب الدين حكمتيار; born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so calle ...

as a tool to deprive Kabul of electricity. The power station fell into disrepair during the late 1990s, which provided very little electricity. After the 2001 U.S.-led invasion only two generators were operational. In August 2006, the Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water awarded the Russian company Technopromexport a $32.5 million contract to rehabilitate the two inoperable generators and replace the transformers. The first of the two became operational in September 2010 and the transformers were replaced by early 2012. The rehabilitation was funded by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

. The second unit became operational by April 2018. In January 2016, the World Bank granted Afghanistan $83 million dollars in aid to completely rebuild the Naghlu Dam. As of April 2019, all four generators of the Naghlu power station are operating.

References

External links

* , May 15, 2018,

. {{Dams and reservoirs in Afghanistan Dams in Afghanistan Dams on the Kabul River Buildings and structures in Kabul Province Hydroelectric power stations in Afghanistan Dams completed in 1968 1968 establishments in Afghanistan Afghanistan–Soviet Union relations Soviet foreign aid

See also

References

External links