Situated in the Horn of Africa (East Africa), Ethiopia is a landlocked country split by the Great Rift Valley with a population of about 94 million people. The electricity in Ethiopia comes solely from Renewable Energy with 20% of the population from the urban areas having access and 75 % of the population not having access to renewable energy. Those without access utilise fuel wood stoves and bio-gas with solar panels.
Renewable Energy in Ethiopia
Currently, the renewable energy potential in Ethiopia includes hydropower (main source), wind power, solar power and geothermal power.
Located in in the Ethiopian highlands 100 kilometres southeast of the capital Addis Ababa, the “153MW Adama Wind Farm” is currently the topic of many-a-discussion; not only due to being Chinese-built, but also because it is the largest Wind farm in sub-Saharan Africa.
Tahaguas Andemariam, a Consultant Engineer and Professor at the University of Adama, said that the 153MW Adama Wind Farm took 2 years to complete. He said that Wind Farms are generally quick to build, as compared to, say, Hydro.
Ethiopia’s Renewable Energy Projects in the Pipeline
- Ethiopia aims to boost other green power projects, with plans on harnessing geothermal, solar and wind energy.
- Ethiopia is looking at erecting a wind farm close to Ayesha, Djibouti – a remote eastern desert near Djibouti – that is larger in size and output capacity, intended to produce 300MW.
- Ethiopia is also looking at completing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which is expected to push out 6,000MW once completed. The construction of the dam started in 2011 and is expected to be completed by 2017 (that’s about a year and half away from today.)
