Business Daily (Nairobi)
Argaw Ashine
18 June 2008
Ethiopian authorities are considering exporting hydroelectric power to Kenya despite delays in completing the 1870 megawatt Gibe III power station and growing power shortages at home.
Alemayehu Tegenu, Ethiopian minister of Mines and Energy, said plans to export power to Kenya were in a report tabled in Parliament yesterday. The power being considered for export is from Gibe II, which is near completion.
Gibe III was initially scheduled for completion in 2012, but the progress has been hindered by delays in financing - expected from international financial institutions.
The Ethiopian government was pushing to secure a 500 million euro funding for Gibe III from development partners, but financiers have kept away due to concerns by environmental groups over the dam's impact on local communities and the ecology.
Power shortage
Recently, the World Bank officially pulled out of funding for the $1.7 billion Gibe III project in response of environmental groups' concern.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), which advanced 50 million euros for Gibe II, was also expected to finance Gibe III. Only a quarter of the project has been done.
Two years ago Ethiopia and Kenya signed a power export agreement, during President Kibaki's visit to Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia has also agreed to sell power to Djibouti and Sudan.
The government is hoping to connect Gibe II, which has a capacity to generate 420 Mega Watt through a 550km transmission line. The plant is expected to be commissioned next year.
Ethiopia is facing an ever increasing power shortage and has resorted to power rationing in the last four months. Five major power plants, including Gibe II and Gibe III with an additional 3,000 megawatt generation capacity, are planned.
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