Kendrick Kuo
Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 2 – September-October, 2011
Switching station viewed from Kajaki Dam
THE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in mid-July that their technicians had successfully installed switching equipment at Kajaki Dam. The primary switch center increases the reliability and capacity of the South Eastern Electrical Power System, which covers Helmand and Kandahar – two of the hottest conflict zones in Afghanistan. This was a benchmark in the Afghan and U.S. governments’ plan to bolster Afghanistan’s energy grid and one of many similar investments in the power sector because of its importance to successful stability operations.
Launched in 2006, the Afghanistan Infrastructure and Rehabilitation Program (IRP) aims to help the war-torn country develop a sustainable society. Funded by USAID, IRP focuses on the availability of power and transportation infrastructure. Examples of progress include the Afghanistan Energy Assistance Project, Afghanistan Clean Energy Project, Kabul Electricity Service Improvement Project and many others; a host of them implemented by Louis Berger Group/Black & Veatch (LBG/B&V), the joint venture charged with implementing IRP.
