The CASA-1000 project (Central Asia–South Asia power transmission line) is a landmark energy initiative aiming to bridge two regions. It was launched in the mid-2010s and is designed to transmit surplus hydropower from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The idea is simple but transformative. It is to use Central Asia’s abundant summer electricity (from hydro dams fed by melting snow) to help power energy-starved South Asia during peak demand season. This $1.2 billion venture involves constructing nearly 1,200 km of transmission lines and high-voltage infrastructure across mountains and valleys. Besides eliminating the chronic power shortages in Pakistan (and to an extent Afghanistan). CASA-1000 represents a new model of regional cooperation as it brings together four countries power grids into a shared marketplace. The project has been backed by a coalition of international partners including the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and others reflecting broad confidence in its potential to boost economic growth and connectivity. However, CASA-1000 has faced repeated delays in due findings, security concerns in Afghanistan and technical challenges. Now, at long last, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Tajikistan’s government has announced plans to complete CASA-1000 by the end of 2026, setting the stage for operations to begin in 2027.
As of 2025, CASA-1000’s construction is well underway, with significant progress in the northern countries. Tajikistan’s First Deputy Energy Minister, Jamshed Shoimzoda, stated in June 2025 that the project would be finished by December 2026 and will be fully operational by January 2027. This timeline aligns with updates from earlier in 2025. By March, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan had essentially completed work on their portions of the line. In fact, Kyrgyzstan’s segment roughly 456 km of new 500 kV AC line from Datka to the Tajik border was finished in late 2024. Tajikistan which hosts both AC and DC sections, had also completed all its transmission towers and built the crucial Sangtuda converter station by early 2024. The bottleneck was Afghanistan, where construction stalled after the 2021 political instability. International donors froze financing for the Afghan segment after the Taliban takeover, leading to a two-year pause. Fortunately, following negotiations, funding flowed again in 2024 and work resumed on Afghanistan’s 575 km section of the line. Tajik Energy Minister Daler Juma noted that with renewed support, the Afghan portion is now expected to be completed by late 2026 that will enable the entire system to go live the following year.
On the Pakistani side, construction is advancing steadily. Pakistan is responsible for about 113 km of high-voltage DC line from its north-western border to the Nowshera converter station. As of mid-2024, Pakistan had over 80% of its transmission towers completed and was on track to finish stringing cables by end of 2024. Indeed, Minister Daler Juma in March 2025 remarked that Pakistan’s segment “is expected to be finished in the first half of this year” (2025). If these projections hold true, by mid-2025 Pakistan will be essentially ready, waiting only for Afghanistan’s segment to catch up. The final components include two state-of-the-art converter stations. One at Sangtuda, Tajikistan and one at Nowshera, Pakistan. These will convert AC to DC and back, allowing efficient long-distance transmission. According to official updates, the converter station in Tajikistan is almost complete and Pakistan’s is well underway.
Once operational, CASA-1000 will be a trailblazer for trans-regional energy trade. It is set up initially as a seasonal exchange. It will be from May to October each year, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will export electricity southwards (when their hydropower dams have excess generation), and the line will be mostly idle in winter (when Central Asia needs its power for heating and when water levels are low). During those summer months, Pakistan expects to import about 1,000 MW of power that is roughly 5–7% of its peak summer demand but can help reduce load-shedding in critical periods. Afghanistan is allocated up to 300 MW of the supply, which can significantly stabilise electricity in Kabul and other areas. An important aspect is that the power transmitted is clean hydroelectricity. This aligns with Pakistan’s and Afghanistan’s goals to diversify into cleaner energy and reduce reliance on costly fossil-fuel imports. Tajikistan, meanwhile, stands to gain export revenues and strengthen its case as a regional “green energy” hub. Its officials have spoken of completely switching to renewable energy domestically by 2027 and leveraging projects like CASA-1000 to boost the green economy. Indeed, Mr. Shoimzoda highlighted that CASA-1000 will mark “a new beginning of clean and green energy projects” in Tajikistan-Pakistan relations.
Beyond immediate power trade, CASA-1000 has symbolic and practical spinoffs. It could pave the way for a Central Asia-South Asia Regional Electricity Market, where more countries join in. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, for instance, have expressed interest in future electricity swap deals with South Asia. The transmission corridor could be expanded or paralleled by additional lines if demand grows. Success of CASA-1000 might also revive talk of transmitting power in the reverse direction in winter for example, Pakistan could potentially export surplus power (if it develops wind/solar projects) to Central Asia or Turkmen gas fired power could go to Pakistan. While those ideas are speculative, the key is that CASA-1000 establishes the infrastructure backbone and trust needed for such cooperation.
