The developer of renewables based in Dubai, AMEA Power LLC, has been tapped for the construction of 300 Megawatt Aysha Wind Power Project in Ethiopia. This will be the first independent power producer project in Ethiopia. AMEA power reached an agreement with the Ministry of finance of Ethiopia on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit that was recently held in Dubai.
This agreement that was reached between the Ministry of Finance of Ethiopia and AMEA portrays the determination of Ethiopia to attract private investments in its energy sector and also increase the portion of renewable energy in the power mix of Ethiopia as a country in general. The general construction process of the Aysha Wind Power Project is set to generate a total of 2,000 jobs, this is inclusive of both the construction and operational phase.
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Aysha Wind Power Project Cost, Size, and Capacity
According to a statement that was released by the Ministry of Finance of Ethiopia, the project shall be set up at a total cost of $600 million and is expected to become the largest wind energy project ever established in the Horn of Africa. The Aysha Wind Power Project is set to occupy a total of 18, 000 hectares in the Horn of Africa region in Ethiopia. Once it starts fully operating, the project is expected to generate approximately 1.22TWh of electric power every year.
Currently, Ethiopia possesses a couple of wind power projects which are based in the Orominya and Tigray regions. In addition, the Aysha wind power project is set to become the largest wind project in Ethiopia when fully complete.
Ethiopia is currently opting to renewable energy in order to boost its general electricity coverage which is said to be at 50 per cent of the population in the country as per the year 2020 according to statistics that were released by the World Bank. This indicated that 60 million Ethiopians were being left outside the national grid.
