Officials from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan at a ceremony in Tashkent on Friday signed an agreement on 10-year import of electricity.

Based on the agreement, a 500-kilovolt power transmission line will be built with the financial support of the Asian Development Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

In the first two years after the completion of the transmission line, 4.25 gigawatts of power per hour will be exported to Afghanistan and it will be 6 gigawatts of power per hour in remaining eight years of the contract, the statement said.

The implementation of the agreement will ensure full power supply to Kabul and other provinces, according to the statement. 

The agreement was signed between Afghan and Uzbek officials during the visit of Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar to Tashkent. 

This comes as Kabul is faced with power shortage since July after Tajikistan decided to cut off its electricity to Afghanistan over domestic needs.

Tajikistan provided 310 megawatts of power to Kabul, but it has stopped the electricity supply to the country.

Later on, the country’s power distributor, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), said about 200 megawatts of power has been imported from Uzbekistan to replace the shortage.