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 2,247 were complete at October 10, 2022. Once complete, the towers will then be used to string the required transmission line conductor cables along the route.
The following chart indicates progress on the construction of transmission towers across the four CASA-1000 countries. As of October 10, 741 towers were complete in Tajikistan, 954 were complete in Kyrgyzstan and 315 were complete in Afghanistan and 237 towers in Pakistan.

Kyrgyzstan

  • Implementation of CASA-1000 in Kyrgyzstan continues with the ongoing construction of 500 kV “Datka-Sugd” power line and the 500 kV bay at “Datka” Substation.
  • Construction of transmission towers and lines continues along the entire length of the Kyrgyz section of the CASA-1000 system according to the established schedule.
  • The following works have been completed at all 1243 transmission tower sites: Establishing access roads to the transmission tower sites, digging of foundation excavations, pouring all concrete foundations. Also, 287 km of transmission conductor wires (63%) have been installed.
  • Major construction and installation work at “Datka” Substation has been completed successfully. One 500 kV shunt reactor (including accessories, neutral conductor, oil pit and fire barriers), three sets of 500 kV automatic switches, three sets of 500 kV current transformers, six 500 kV lightning rods and other equipment were installed; over 475 meters of power and control cables were also laid.
  • The total length of the power lines running through Kyrgyzstan starting at the 500 kV bay at “Datka” Substation will be 456 kilometers.
  • Environmental evaluation of the CASA-1000 project has been completed; the designated use of the land plots in Batken, Osh and Jalal-Abad was changed to enable construction of the project facilities, and all project-affected persons who were resettled because of the project have received compensation.

Tajikistan

  • Structure and equipment installation at the Sangtuda Converter Station site is 100% complete, and total construction is now over 95% complete.
  • Construction to upgrade two substation sites along the CASA-1000 route (Sugd-500 and Regar-500) in Tajikistan is nearing completion.
  • Transmission system construction in Tajikistan is nearing completion across the length of the CASA-1000 system in the country, with construction of the HVDC line from Sangtuda to the Afghanistan border and the 66kV earth electrode line fully complete, and only a minor amount of work remaining on the 14 km 500 kV HVAC line connecting to the Kyrgyzstan border.

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)

    • 60.5 Ha land is acquired by NTDC in District Nowshera, KPK. Construction Work at the Nowshera Converter Station site is under progress.
    • Overall progress is 82.6%.
    • Construction across many areas continues, including foundation setting for electrical towers and gantries, construction of multiple buildings, and fabrication of metal supports.
    • 1308 equipment foundations have been constructed, 85% are backfilled. Steel Structure Erection is 94% completed.
    • Construction of all building walls above grade continues.
    • Shunt Reactors are installed.
    • All 7 Converter Transformers are delivered at Nowshera site.
    • All material/shipment is delivered to Nowshera site from Karachi port.

    ELECTRODE STATION:

    • The land for the Electrode station for the required area of 500x500M at Charsadda has been awarded in favour of NTDC.
    • The construction work is awarded to M/s. Hitachi and the site will be handed over to M/s. Hitachi after construction of boundary wall in August-2023.
    • The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report has been approved by the World Bank.
    • The land compensation and Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) amount has been paid to landowners.

      TRANSMISSION LINE (TW02):

      • The definitive site layout, route alignment and soil investigation for the 376 transmission tower locations on the 113 km HVDC route between Nowshera and the Afghanistan border is completed.
      • Overall progress is 72.4%.
      • 363 (96.5%) tower foundations are concreted, and 343 (91.2%) transmission towers are erected.
      • ESIA and Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) reports for the CASA-1000 transmission lines are approved by the World Bank.

      ELECTRODE LINE:

      • Route alignment, soil investigation and layout survey of 24 km length, of the 66 kV earth electrode line from Nowshera to Charsadda for the required 88 tower locations is completed.
      • The RAP and ESIA reports for Electrode line are approved by the World Bank.

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)