- Ethiopia wants to invest $40bn in electricity production over the next decade.
- The country aims to have a 35GW generation capacity by 2037.
- Ethiopia wants to export the majority of this capacity to other East African countries.
The Ethiopian government plans to invest $40 billion to construct clean energy plants over the next 10 years. The 10-year plan will see the country produce and export clean energy from 71 projects to countries in the Horn of Africa and East Africa. Ethiopia is already developing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which will have a capacity of 6,450MW.
The government wants to build 16 hydropower plants as part of the plan. Ethiopia recently began to develop its wind capacity as the first project; the 100MW Assela Wind Farm is being developed by Siemens Gamesa 150km south of Addis Abbaba. The government plans to develop twenty-four wind power projects over the next 10 years. At least 14 solar projects and 17 geothermal energy projects will be developed.
Ethiopia plans to have a total installed capacity of about 35GW by 2037. the majority of this electricity will be exported to neighbouring countries in the region. However, electricity access in the country still remains low as only 45 per cent of the population have access.