Monday, 13 June 2011

According Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the country has planned to produce about 8,000 megawatts of extra electricity from hydropower sources in the coming five years. He had announced on 2 April 2011 the construction of a 5,250-megawatt project at a cost of $4.76 billion dollars close to the Sudanese border.

According to the Wold Bank, Ethiopia's hydropower potential of 45,000 megawatts is second in Africa only to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Transmission line to Sudan, financed by the World Bank, could be completed this year, Raihan Elahi, the World Bank's senior energy specialist in Ethiopia, said last month. And, according to Elahi, an agreement has been concluded for Ethiopia to supply about 200 megawatts to Sudan.

The African Development Bank supplied 95 million dollars to Ethiopia and Djibouti to support the project that links the two countries, Ethiopia Resident Representative Lamin Barrow said on Friday.

Ethiopia is expected to make 10 million dollars from the first year of the connection, according to Barrow. The foreign exchange Ethiopia earns the connection can be used to support the country's Universal Electrification Access Program, Elahi said.

Ethiopia has a plan to provide electricity to 75 percent of its population in July 2015. Currently, 41 percent of the population has access to electricity.

Source: Bloomberg