Should Afghanistan focus on renewables?

Focussing on renewables for domestic power generation, would ensure power generation and grid stability for its current and future energy needs, and would thus help Afghanistan achieve energy security.

Why should energy storage be a long-duration option?

Provision of additional services such as transmission congestion relief and resilience could also increase opportunities for longer-duration storage. Several storage technology options have the potential to achieve lower per-unit of energy storage costs and longer service lifetimes.

How long do energy storage systems last?

The length of energy storage technologies is divided into two categories: LDES systems can discharge power for many hours to days or even longer, while short-duration storage systems usually remove for a few minutes to a few hours. It is impossible to exaggerate the significance of LDES in reaching net zero.

Is Afghanistan a good country for energy security and energy access?

Afghanistan is rich in energy resources, both fossil fuel based and renewables. However, it still depends heavily on imported electricity and fuels and has one of the lowest per capita consumption of electricity in the world. Lack of domestic generation remains the key challenge for energy security and energy access in Afghanistan.

How much power will Afghanistan have by the end of Stage 1?

As per the Roadmap, Afghanistan’s power generation capacity from domestic RE resources would reach 850 MW by the end of Stage 1, which would potentially replace around 40% of imports at the current levels, avoiding drain of foreign exchange that is required to finance energy imports.

What is long-duration energy storage (LDEs)?

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is a key resource in enabling zero-emissions electricity grids but its role within different types of grids is not well understood.