KABUL, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan interim government has attracted and invested more than 117 million U.S. dollars in the power sector over the past two months, the office of the acting deputy prime minister for economic affairs announced on Wednesday.
The projects include the construction of 95 megawatts of solar power facilities in the northern provinces of Balkh, western Herat, and eastern Nangarhar and Laghman, along with a 43.2 megawatt wind power project in Herat, said the office.
Additionally, the projects involve the construction of substations in the southern Kandahar and Zabul provinces, as well as the extension of transmission lines from Helmand to Kandahar, the source added.
The energy projects are expected to benefit approximately 100,000 households and hundreds of industrial factories across Afghanistan, it said.
Afghanistan has long struggled with a power shortage, relying heavily on electricity imports from neighboring countries, such as Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. ■
