Ethiopia: Power network links to Sudan, Djibouti finalised

[Jacaylbaro]

April 25, 2011(ADDIS ABABA) – As part of the plans to export electric power to neighbouring countries, Ethiopia has completed installation of power transmission lines that stretch to Sudan and Djibouti, the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) disclosed on Monday.

 

Ethiopia has an initial agreement to supply 200 megawatts to Djibouti, 500 megawatts to Kenyaand 200 megawatts to Sudan when its dams, which are currently under construction, are completed. It will also consider a 26km undersea transmission line for exporting electricity to Yemen via Djibouti.

 

The interconnection projects were carried out with a multi-million dollars fund from the World Bank (WB). The WB said a similar US$196 million project that connects Ethiopia with Kenya is making good progress.

 

Named the “Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam”, the Horn of Africa’s country has recently launched the construction of a US$4.7 billion hydropower project in the Nile basin near the border with Sudan.

 

When completed, the Mega Dam will enable transmission lines to further link Ethiopia’s hydropower plants to the 12-nation Southern Africa Power Pool via Tanzania.

 

Foreign Affairs Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, at a recent news conference, said that the country has plans to export power to seven neighbouring countries namely Sudan, Egypt, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan.

 

 

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