A groundbreaking ceremony has been held in Charjev etrap, Lebap velayat to formally launch the construction phase for a new 432-MW gas-turbine power plant. The event marked another important step towards implementing the economic strategy of the President of Turkmenistan, whose key aspect is to boost the domestic power sector’s generating capacity and export potential. The large investment project will be implemented in cooperation with Sumitomo Corporation and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (Japan), and Rönesans Holding (Turkey). Under the contract signed with Turkmenenergo State Power Corporation during a 2015 official visit by Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe to our country, Sumitomo Corporation will design and construct the 432-MW gas-turbine power plant (to be tooled with high-tech equipment) on a turnkey basis. The project will be financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation that entered into a loan agreement with the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan. A designated area for the new power complex is an extensive construction site nearby the operating Lebap Hydroelectric Power Station, which was officially opened in the south of Charjev etrap in 2014. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, the world-known company, will construct three gas-turbine power units in the plant’s main production facility with a projected generating capacity of 144 MW each. Aside from the power units, the project envisages construction of an administration building with a main control room, a power generating station, and all necessary engineering systems. The area adjacent to the plant will be well tended and landscaped. Construction work will be carried out by Rönesans Holding (Turkey). In line with the 2018-2024 Socio-Economic Development Program of the President of Turkmenistan, the country’s total power production is planned to reach up to 33 billion kWh in the next seven years. The sector’s enhanced potential will help to boost Turkmen electricity exports, first of all, to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, where the creation of related infrastructure will be a significant factor for the country’s socio-economic development. As known, our country has been helping the brotherly people of Afghanistan for years to rebuild a peaceful life. Notable examples are the Imamnazar-Andkhoy and Serhetabat-Herat power transmission lines, which have become a vital component of the neighboring country’s electric power infrastructure, as well as the Rabat-Kashan–Kalay-Nau power line put into service this summer, which has helped to set a new direction for Turkmen electricity supplies on concessional terms - to Afghanistan’s northern regions. The large-scale Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power line project, initiated by the head of state, have enormous significance not only for the participating nations, but also for the entire region. The Agreement, which our country has recently signed with the Asian Development Bank on financing the Akhal-Balkan and Balkan-Dashoguz high-voltage transmission line projects, aims to facilitate the country’s further integration into the global energy system and expand the geographical scope of Turkmen energy export supplies to global markets.