Convoy stretched 4 km with protection of 4,000 troops.
Transporting a hydroelectric turbine over Afghanistan’s terrain would be tough enough in peacetime, but crossing 180 km of hostile territory in Helmand Province called for stealth and protection by over 4,000 troops.
To boost power supplies in southern Afghanistan, a convoy made the perilous trip from Kandahar airfield to the Kajaki Dam in five days, says a spokesman for British forces, which led the operation. Reportedly stretching 4 km, the convoy avoided Taliban attack, he adds.
Defended by some 2,000 U.K. soldiers, backed by a similar force of local, U.S., Canadian, Danish and Australian troops, the convoy carried about 200 tonnes of equipment, the largest piece weighing 29 tonnes.
The 18.5-MW turbine will eventually boost the powerplant’s capacity to 53 MW. One 16.5-MW turbine is already operational. Another is being rehabilitated by Beijing-based China Machine International Co. under the U.S.-funded Infrastructure Rehabilitation Program, jointly managed by Morristown, N.J.-based Louis Berger Group Inc. and Black & Veatch, Overland Park, Kan.
In peacetime, the Kajaki plant would supply most of the power used in and around Kandahar and Lashkar Gah. However, two of its three generators failed in 2003 and transmission lines have been under attack since.
The 100-m-tall, 270-m-long dam was built in 1953 mainly for irrigation. A 33-MW powerhouse with two generators was added 20 years later with U.S. funding. Work to boost the reservoir’s capacity stopped with the 1979 Soviet invasion.
The Kajaki plant will supply power to over 1.5 million people. Under 10% of Afghans have access to electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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