The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
21 July 2007
Addis Ababa — The Ethio-Djibouti energy project is going to start soon. The project is believed to be beneficial to Ethiopia in terms of generating foreign currency, it was learnt.
The project will not only improve power supply but also contribute to the environmental protection by using water as a source of energy, said Alemayehu Tegenu, Minister of Mine and Energy, speaking at the first meeting of the Ethio-Djibouti energy project committee last week.
Though Ethiopia has the potential power of about 45,000 MW of electricity it has been utilizing only 3 percent of that, said the Minister. Using the second largest power potential in Africa could benefit both Ethiopia and neighboring countries as an alternative, low-priced source of energy.
Ethiopia and Djibouti agreed to bilateral use of energy in November 2002 and secured loan permission from the Africa Development Bank at an agreement concluded in December 2004.
The project will be completed in August 2010 and will cover border towns between Diredawa and Djibouti over a 283km long cable carrying energy at a voltage of 230 KV.
According to Alemayehu, the four hydro electric power projects under construction, Gilgel Gibe 2, Tekeze, Tana Beles and Gilgel Gibe3, have a power of 9500 GW. The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation is building the capacity to supply Djibouti with 700 GW from 2010 onwards.
Solomon Abebe, coordinator of the Ethio-Djibouti energy cooperation, said that the power project could supply 36,000 Djibouti citizens and people in border towns with minimum tariff.
The African Development Bank has granted a loan of USD 30.44 mln to Ethiopia and USD 25.66 mln to Djibouti. The loan was released in August last year.
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