Ethiopia power grid is to benefit from plans to commence on a mega construction worth US$ 120m of a high-voltage transmission line connecting with Kenya as part of plans to boost regional power exports.
“The Ethio-Kenya Power Interconnection Project will help to utilize power resources together and the national network expansion will facilitate power trade in the region,” said Ethiopia’s Water, Irrigation and Energy Minister Alemayehu Tegenu.
The multi-million agreement was signed by Ethiopian Electric Power’s Chief Executive Azeb Asnake and the CEPET’s vice-president Chen Wei from China Electric Power Equipment and Technology.
The transmission line will stretch from Wolaita in southern Ethiopia to the border, making half of the planned 1,045 km link with Kenya. It will consist of a 2,000 MW capacity once complete.
It is jointly financed by African Development Bank, World Bank and the French Development Agency, with the AfDB financing the Ethiopian part of the project.
The project is anticipated to be completed in less than three years from now.
Ethiopia currently exports less than 10mw to the Kenyan border towns; it plans to increase the current 100 megawatts it sells to Sudan and the 50 megawatts to Djibouti this year. It also has agreements to export 400 megawatts to Rwanda and Tanzania and soon to Burundi.
