Big turbine sent to aid project in Afghanistan
Sep 03 - Associated Press/AP Online
By JASON STRAZIUSO
Thousands of British, U.S. and Canadian forces successfully escorted a new
turbine through some of Afghanistan's most dangerous Taliban territory to an
American aid project that hopes to increase electrical production to the
country's south.
Some 4,000 troops guarded the turbine as it traveled 110 miles from Kandahar
city to the site of the Kajaki dam project - the largest American aid
project in Afghanistan - in neighboring Helmand province. The province is
the most violent region in the country.
"The result of the operation will be a much needed increase in capacity to
generate electrical power, which will create a better quality of life for
Afghan people in southern Afghanistan," NATO's International Security
Assistance Force said in a statement.
Troops from Denmark, Australia and Afghanistan also took part. The turbine
arrived in Kajaki on Tuesday.
The U.S.-led coalition has said it killed 220 militants in Helmand province
over the last week, coinciding with the turbine's movement through the
region.
Maj. Gen. J. G. M. Lessard, the commander of NATO troops in southern
Afghanistan, said the security mission to protect the turbine "clearly
demonstrated" NATO's and the Afghan government's commitment to
reconstruction.
"Despite the disruptive effort from the insurgents, we achieved our goal and
delivered the new turbine," Lessard said. "The insurgents efforts have not
been successful. They will not win and are not winning in the southern
region."
The turbine was reportedly escorted by a convoy of 100 vehicles and dozens
of attack helicopters and fighter jets. Western officials have long fretted
they would not be able to deliver the turbine safely through the
Taliban-held land.
Kajaki is an American-built hydroelectric dam project with the potential to
provide Afghanistan with 6 percent of its power. It is the largest American
aid project in Afghanistan.
The dam was originally built in the 1950s to help Afghan farmers irrigate
their fields. It lies in Helmand province in southwest Afghanistan, which
grows more opium poppies than any place in the world. And, thanks to an
influx of Taliban fighters the last two years, it is one of the most
dangerous regions in the country.
U.S. crews returned to Kajaki in the 1970s and installed two turbines. In
recent months, one turbine has been working but a second has been off line
for repairs. A hole sat in between those two turbines where the third is to
be installed.
The U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. government aid arm,
has said the cost for refurbishing the two turbines and the purchase of the
third is $51 million. But a lot of other work remains.
The region also needs new transmission lines that can carry the new,
increased power to Kandahar and Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand
province. That will cost more than $77 million.
At full capacity, the three turbines together can provide southern
Afghanistan with 51 megawatts of power, said John Shepard, an engineer from
Tucson, Arizona, who has been working on the Kajaki project since 2004.
In total, Afghanistan has the potential to create about 770 megawatts of
power on small, individual power grids that service local communities. That
means the Kajaki Dam could provide more than 6 percent of the country's
total electricity.
By Western standards, though, 50 megawatts is a modest amount - nearly
enough electricity for a town the size of Burlington, Vermont, which has
about 160,000 people.
|