Ethiopia’s Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) says that Somaliland will be the next beneficiary of its electricity export deals. EEPCO plans to electrify Togo Wuchale across the border from the Ethiopian town of the same name, and electric transmission line installation work has begun around the area. In future, the corporation plans to expand its supply to Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa. Broad agreement has been reached but some details have yet to be ironed out.

Ethiopia has been supplying up to 80MW of electric power to Djibouti since the middle of last year earning the country US$1.5 million a month.

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation has now also completed the transmission lines to make Sudan the second country to benefit from Ethiopia’s power exports. The 296 kilometer link has a 230 Kilovolt capacity and will start operation this year.

Agreement has been reached over a deal to supply power to Kenya as well, and another transmission line is under construction on the Kenyan side of the border, funded by the African Development Bank. Export of electricity to Kenya is scheduled to begin in 2014, but the Kenyan border town of Moyale is already receiving electricity from EEPCO. Another Kenyan border town is expected to be linked to the Ethiopian grid in a few weeks.

Ethiopia is currently undertaking multibillion dollar investments on a number of green energy projects that will see the country become one of Africa’s leading exporters of power. The government plans to generate a total of up to 10,000MW of electricity by the end of the current Growth and Transformation Plan within the next ten years.

Source: A Week in the Horn – March 9, 2012 issue

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