Kajaki Dam Afghanistan

Eyeball

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Two photos above: Kajaki Dam, 28 May 2008. By Mihai via Picasa

Kajakai, 19 September 2008

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Kajakai, 19 September 2008

Source for three above

Kajaki

Location: Afghanistan

Operator: Ministry of Energy and Water

Configuration: 2 X 16.5 MW Francis

Operation: 1975

T/G supplier: Allis Chalmers, Westinghouse

Quick facts: This plant is on the Helmand River and the plant supplies electricity to Kandahar and Helmand. The 100m dam is 270m long and can store up to 1.2bn m³ of water making it the largest multipurpose water project in the country. Kajaki operates year-round although water flow is highly seasonal. A third turbine was in the original design and is now under construction with electromechanical equipment from China. Louis Berger and Black & Veatch are lead contractors. The new, $6mn T/G set was delivered to the site in Aug 2008 by a 100-vehicle convoy escorted by 2,000 British troops and 2,000 additional Afghan and NATO troops on a 5-day, 180km trip. This was the largest exercise of its kind during the Afghan conflict.

Photograph courtesy of U.S. Agency for International Development

Posted 4 Nov 2006

Kandahar's electricity woes

Providing consistent electricity to Afghanistan's second-largest city is paramount to stabilizing the south. Although there is agreement over the need to upgrade production at the Kajaki Dam, which will take years to complete, the debate continues over whether to buy generators to meet short-term needs.

Where Eagles Dare

An informative account of the British troops delivery of the third turbine.

[Photo credit: SGT Anthony Boocock, British Army.]

The top-secret mission was to deliver a new turbine to the Kajaki Dam. The second-largest hydro-electric dam in Afghanistan, Kajaki is designed to operate three turbines, and was originally built with American money in 1953 to provide electricity to Helmand and Kandahar Provinces. But that was another era of the Great Game. Only two out of three turbines were installed, and they fell apart when the Soviet Union pulled out from Afghanistan in 1989.

[Photo credit: SGT Anthony Boocock, British Army.]

Since the American-led invasion in 2001, only one turbine was working. The mission’s goal was to drag a second turbine up treacherous roads, and put it online. The operation was of a magnitude large enough to warrant its own name: Operation Oqab Tsuka: Pashto for “Eagle’s Summit.” Some of the younger soldiers, when they heard about the plan to drive a giant convoy straight through Taliban territory, had another name for it: “Operation Suicide.”

[Photo credit: SGT Anthony Boocock, British Army.] Empty home for new Chinese turbine.

In an increasingly successful attempt to discredit the Afghan government and the ISAF, enemy forces have been attacking infrastructure including bridges, power, communications, and dams.

Far up road 611 in Helmand Province, there has been much fighting at Kajaki. If another turbine could be brought online, and power lines stretched from generator to consumer, wide swaths of the population would have electricity. This would not only help the Afghan people, but also support the government, and spur the economy. It was estimated that the new turbine could eventually double the amount of irrigation available to local farmers, allowing them to plant two wheat harvests per year. With wheat prices on the rise, wheat might become more profitable than opium. Helmand Province grows more opium poppies than any other place on Earth. And much of the proceeds go—directly or indirectly, voluntarily or by force—to fund the Taliban.

Even without enemy opposition, hauling the turbine assembly to Kajaki would be expensive and physically challenging. The turbine components were sitting in Kandahar Airfield (KAF), a sprawling ISAF base in the middle of a Taliban stronghold. KAF is home to increasing numbers of foreign troops: American, Aussie, British, Canadian, Danish, French, Italian, Slovakian and others. Transport and combat aircraft from all over the world use the airfield. Harrier jets frequently are launched in support of combat operations, while unmanned Predators buzz off into the night, loaded with sensors and hellfire missiles. Apaches, Kiowas, Hueys, and Blackhawks, as well as Russian-made and French aircraft, trundle down the runway.

The components of the Chinese-built turbine were brought in by an AN-124 Russian transport, operated by a private company. But the turbine cargo was far too heavy to lift by helicopter for the final 100 miles of the journey. There were no runways for fixed-wing aircraft at Kajaki. So the turbine and other critical parts would have to be hauled from KAF to Kajaki by land.

101104-M-7145T-001. Taliban-occupied territory is bombed by a British High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and a 500-pound bomb from an air strike for India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, in Kajaki, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Nov. 4, 2010. The unit requested the rocket fire and air strike to destroy suspected Taliban hiding spots in the area. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew P. Troyer/Released)

101104-M-7145T-009. Taliban-occupied territory is bombed by a British High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and a 500-pound bomb from an air strike for India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, in Kajaki, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Nov. 4, 2010. The unit requested the rocket fire and air strike to destroy suspected Taliban hiding spots in the area. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew P. Troyer/Released)

101020-M-0158B-130. U.S. Marines with India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment use a satellite communications system at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Zeebrugge in Kajaki, Afghanistan, Oct. 20, 2010. The communications system was part of the mobile PX that traveled to FOBs in Helmand province to sell items to Marines in the field. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Paige J. Bray/Released)

101020-M-0158B-082. Peaks rise from the desert at Outpost Athens near Forward Operating Base (FOB) Zeebrugge, Kajaki, Afghanistan, Oct. 20, 2010. FOB Zeebrugge was home to U.S. Marines with India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment who were deployed to Helmand province in support of the International Security Assistance Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Paige J. Bray/Released)

100830-M-7145T-033. An outpost stands at Camp Zeebrugge in Kajaki, Afghanistan, Aug. 30, 2010. Camp Zeebrugge is occupied by U.S. Marines assigned to India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment in support of the International Security Assistance Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew P. Troyer/Released)

100830-M-7145T-020. A MK19-3 40 mm grenade machine gun sits in an overwatch position atop a peak at Camp Zeebrugge in Kajaki, Afghanistan, Aug. 30, 2010. Camp Zeebrugge is occupied by U.S. Marines assigned to India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment in support of the International Security Assistance Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew P. Troyer/Released)

100830-M-7145T-012. View of the Helmand River at Camp Zeebrugge in Kajaki, Afghanistan, Aug. 30, 2010. Camp Zeebrugge is occupied by U.S. Marines assigned to India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment in support of the International Security Assistance Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew P. Troyer/Released)

100830-M-7145T-001. View of the Helmand River at Camp Zeebrugge in Kajaki, Afghanistan, Aug. 30, 2010. Camp Zeebrugge is occupied by U.S. Marines assigned to India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment in support of the International Security Assistance Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew P. Troyer/Released)

100709-M-1263P-027. U.S. Marine Cpl. William Faffler, a combat videographer attached to 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, Police Mentoring Team (PMT), films the PMT Marines? visit to Outpost Sparrowhawk on Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge in Kajaki, Afghanistan, June 9, 2010. PMT Marines visited the outpost to see the firing positions. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Ismael Peña/Released)

100613-M-9289A-418. U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Chris Arnold, a field artillery gunner with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, provides visual support for Marines on patrol June 13, 2010, at Observation Post Sparrow Hawk in the Helmand province of Afghanistan June 13, 2010. Arnold and Marines with India Company provided artillery support for Marines on patrol in support of operations around the Kajaki Dam. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jeffrey D. Anderson/Released

100612-M-9289A-332. A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 466, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing prepares to deliver an external load of supplies at Landing Zone Lancaster, near the Kajaki Dam in the Helmand province of Afghanistan June 12, 2010. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jeffrey D. Anderson/Released)

100609-M-9289A-086. Two U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 466, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing drop off Marines with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division at Landing Zone Lancaster in the Helmand province of Afghanistan June 9, 2010. The Marines of India Company were en route to Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge in Helmand to conduct operations around the Kajaki Dam. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jeffrey D. Anderson/Released)

080916-M-8774P-009. U.S. Marines of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment patrol the streets of the Sangin District Center in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan, Sept. 16, 2008. The 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines is a reinforced light infantry battalion deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Chad J. Pulliam/Released)

080902-M-8774P-030. British army "Viking" combat vehicles line up Sept. 2, 2008, to refuel at a rest point after a convoy through the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. The British army is tasked with delivering a turbine to the Kajaki Dam to supply the area with hydro-electric power. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Chad J. Pulliam/Released)

Mortar platoon fire their 81mm mortars at Taliban positions in support of a patrol from X Company, 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, based at Fob Zeebrugge which is located next to Kajaki power station and dam.

It is of strategic importance that security is maintained around the area of the power station so that engineers can continue to provide electricity to the local population of Southern Afghanistan. The station currently has one turbine working at maximum capacity and a project is underway to rehabilitate a second turbine and deliver a third turbine which, when running will provide power and irrigation to over 2 million people. It is the biggest reconstruction project to take place in Afghanistan. 27 August 2008. Photographer unnamed.

080812-M-2265R-005. British soldiers from The Queen?s Royal Lancers, Viking Group, have a meeting in the back of a BvS 10 Viking vehicle Aug. 12, 2008, at Camp Bastion. The unit is conducting security operations for a new turbine being moved from the Kandahar Airfield to the Kajaki Dam in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Clint Runyon/Released)

Source Afghanistan Kajaki Spillway. By US AID Water. 31 March 2007

A British sangar overlooking the Kajaki dam. Helmand Province, Afghanistan, April 2007.