Articles

Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis for Power Generation Technologies in Afghanistan: A Comparative Techno-Economic Assessment

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Afghanistan faces significant challenges in achieving reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity supply while remaining heavily dependent on imported electricity. Despite possessing abundant renewable energy resources, including solar, wind, and hydropower, comprehensive economic assessments of electricity generation technologies under Afghan conditions remain limited. This study presents a comparative Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) analysis of six power generation technologies relevant to Afghanistan’s energy sector: Solar Photovoltaic (PV), Wind, Hydropower, Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT), Coal-Fired Power Plants, and Biomass. A discounted cash flow methodology is employed using technology-specific technical and economic parameters representative of Afghanistan. The analysis incorporates capital expenditure, operation and maintenance costs, fuel costs, capacity factors, plant lifetimes, and financing conditions. Sensitivity analysis is performed across a range of weighted average cost of capital (WACC) values from 5% to 18% to evaluate the impact of financing risk on generation costs. Results indicate that hydropower exhibits the lowest LCOE, followed by utility-scale solar PV and wind power. Renewable technologies demonstrate strong economic competitiveness while simultaneously achieving near-zero operational carbon emissions. The findings highlight the importance of low-cost financing and provide evidence-based guidance for future energy planning, investment prioritization, and sustainable electricity sector development in Afghanistan.

The Influence of Shahnameh on Afghanistan Public Culture

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Shahnameh is one of the most significant literary texts of Persian speakers. The people of Afghanistan have an inseparable and remarkable bond with the Shahnameh. For this reason, the Shahnameh has had the greatest impact on the culture of the people of Afghanistan, the effects of which can be clearly seen in the names, places, buildings, proverbs, anecdotes and the ritual of reading the Shahnameh of the people of this country. This research has been done in order to introduce a part of the native culture of the Persian language and to measure the effectiveness and influence of the Shahnameh among Afghans and with the aim of preserving and recording a part of the cultural heritage of Afghanistan; At a time when the culture of modernity is conquering and dominating national cultures and pushing the world towards a global village. The findings of the research indicate the existence of the Shahnameh among the people of Afghanistan. Its most prominent appearance can be seen in the Shahnameh reading circles of Herat, Balkh, Takhar, Badakhshan and Panjshir. The beliefs of the people of Afghanistan about the different regions of this country and their connection with the characters of the Shahnameh, especially Rustam, are a sign of the deep influence of the Shahnameh among the people of this country. Also, proverbs and names taken from the Shahnameh are widely used and prosperous among the people of Afghanistan.

Growth and Instability in Production and Export of Almond in Afghanistan

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The almond is native to Iran and surrounding countries as well as Asia. In 2017, world production of almonds was 2.2 million tones, with the United States providing 46% of the total. According to FAO Afghanistan is one of the 10 top producers of almonds. The study examined the growth and instability of area, production, export and consumption of almond in Afghanistan from 2000 to 2017. Exponential function fitted to estimate compound annual growth rates (CAGR) in area, production, export and consumption of almond, and Cuddy – Della Valle indices are used in the study. The compound growth rates for area, production and productivity of almonds in Afghanistan were 5.77 %, 7.37 % and 1.52 % respectively. Area under almond crop exhibited medium (19,52) instability, where production and productivity shown high (50.05 and 49.01) instability respectively, during this period. Almond consumption grew by 6.75 per cent and export grew with compound annual growth rate of 6.12 per cent from the year 2000 to 2017.Both export and consumption of almond registered high instability in this period.