Vergnet Group SA is conducting a feasibility study in Tirgay Regional State for expansion of the Ashegoda Wind Farm, a project that will help the country add to the grid a total of 40MW in Tirgay Regional State. Lodovic Dehondt, Ashegoda’s project director for the first phase has said the project is expected to end in 2015.
Ashegoda is considered to be one of the windiest places in Ethiopia and its one of the 11 sites that had been identified by experts with the potential to generate power from wind. Feasibility studies in the area commenced in October this year. The wind farm has capacity to produce 10 – 40 MW of electricity once it becomes operational.
German-based company Lahmeyer International GmbH has been hired by the government to provide project consultancy services and contract supervision and administration works. The funds for the project will be sourced from European banks and the French Development Agency (AFD).
The Minister of water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE) Alemayehu Tegenu, and the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Debretsion Gebremichel have also entered into another agreement to expand power generation.
Ethiopia aims at generating 10,000Mw electric power from water, wind and geothermal sources through the Ashegoda wind farm and Adama wind farm during the conclusion of the government’s five-year growth plan.
Vergnet Group SA is based in French firm and deals with power generation from wind, solar and hybrid sources. It has installed 900 wind turbines and operates in nearly 35 countries. Ethiopia has recently announced setting aside US$20bn for energy projects in a bid to construct 10-12 new power generating projects between 2015-2020.
