Ethiopia Plans Power Exports to Sudan After Rains Boost Dams
Supplies to Sudan will total about 200 megawatts, while 150 megawatts may also be sold to Djibouti should there be sufficient supplies, said Mekuria Lemma, head of strategic management and programming at the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corp.
Gilgel Gibe II, which halted production in January following a tunnel collapse, is expected to resume output by the end of July. Production at Tana Beles, the country’s largest plant, and Tekeze is also expected to be at full capacity following recent rains. The three plants produce a combined 1,180 megawatts of power.
“We have lots of water in all our reservoirs,” Mekuria said in an interview on July 12 in the capital, Addis Ababa. “We are in a good position now.”
Ethiopia has Africa’s second-biggest potential hydropower capacity of 45,000 megawatts, according to the World Bank. Congo has the largest. Rainfall in Ethiopia was average or above average in April and May in most parts of the country, according to the National Meteorological Agency. In June, when the main rainy season starts, average or above average precipitation was recorded in central and western areas, it said yesterday.
Ethiopian dam Tekeze
Kenya is in talks with Ethiopia to import 500 megawatts of electricity and a feasibility study has been completed on a transmission line to the East African country, Mekuria said.
The African Development Bank provided a $1 million loan for the design of the line, which is expected to be built by 2014, Solomon Asfaw, an Ethiopia-based energy specialist at the bank, said in an interview.
In addition, the bank is co-funding the construction of a 283-kilometer (176-mile) 230 kilovolt transmission line from the eastern Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa to Djibouti. The network, which will be able to supply 260 megawatts of power, will be completed within two months, Solomon said.
Ethiopia’s current generating capacity is about 2,000 megawatts, including the 420 megawatts from Gilgel Gibe II, EEPCO spokesman Misiker Negash said in an interview. There are plans to increase that to 8,000 megawatts, Mekuria said.
source: Washington post
This is good news but we need to provide electric power for our cities before selling to any country.
3 months ago a frind of mine stop work coz of power shortage proplems the gov must accomplsh frist the conterys benfit but thanks oc and the gov for making thise happen and told as what happen in there
@misrie, why r u so concerned????, you don’t even live in ethiopia, which means you don’t know what it’s like down here,the govt needs the money, to build some more dams n pay for the ones which are already built and perhaps buy some grains for the starving farmers at home. oh n I didin’t get the “What people have NOT been thinking is WHY NOT LET ALL THE DAMN LOW IQ STUPID MOTHERHEIFERS TESEBSIBEW LEMIN YERASACHEWIN AGER YIZEW DEDEBINETACHEWIN TAQFEW AYNORUM?” part, tigray is not hager lol, it’s just a state in ethiopia… I think you’re just a hater!!!! yea a HATER!!! it’s ppl like you with who are making things even more harder for the ones who are at home working their ass off to c a better ethiopia, so ya’ll can go FUCk your self, YOU ALL HAVE TO ASK YOUR SELVES WHAT YOU ARE DOING OUT THERE AWAY FROM HOME MAKING BAD JUDGEMENT OUT OF EVERY MOVE THE GOVT IS MAKING
March MZ! March!!
it is agreat job and w realy proud by what have been done
and we hope to keepup for building more dams in order to
make our country lighiting day and night