Afghanistan Operations

Cummins Gensets installed, southern Afghanistan

The Louis Berger Group (LBG) has had a significant presence in Afghanistan since 2002, primarily through two major USAID programs: the Rehabilitation of Economic Facilities and Services (REFS) and the Afghanistan Infrastructure and Rehabilitation Program (IRP). Power has been a large component of LBG’s infrastructure rebuilding work in Afghanistan, including two 16.5 MW hydroturbines at the Kajakai Hydropower Plant in Helmand Province refurbished under extremely difficult security conditions and a complete assessment of the Darunta Hydroelectric Plant, located outside of Jalalabad. LBG and Cummins together supplied emergency diesel power plants and operations and maintenance services for three cities in southwestern Afghanistan.

Berger/Cummins maintains a project management office on Kandahar Air Field, which provides a platform to liaise with Military and Government agencies in Kandahar and Helmand provinces as well as in Kabul. In 2010, Berger/Cummins was awarded two standing Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) with the US Military in Afghanistan - one for the Kandahar Regional Contracting Center and the other for the Leatherneck Regional Contracting Center. Under these agreements, Berger/Cummins has provided Automatic Transfer Switches and genset equipment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

In 2011, the US Army Corps of Engineers awarded Berger/Cummins multiple projects to install, operate, and maintain power plants throughout Afghanistan. This includes mini-grids and operations and maintenance (O&M). In addition, the US Army Corps of Engineers awarded a standalone on-call contract to provide power plants at Forward Operating Bases in Afghanistan. Our project locations include Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar City; Multi-National Base Tarin Kot in Uruzgan Province north of Kandahar; Forward Operating Base Konduz, 50 kilometers south of the Tajik border in northeastern Afghanistan; Camp Marmal, at the foot of the Marmal mountains in north central Afghanistan near Mazir-e-Sharif; and an O&M power plant and distribution system on Kandahar Air Field. For new power plants, Berger/Cummins is constructing the new power plant and will continue to operate and maintain the plant and primary distribution system for the US Military following installation.