- Ethiopia secured USD 140 million from energy exports in the recently concluded Ethiopian fiscal year.
- Ashebir announced that transmission testing to Tanzania will commence next month as part of the country’s efforts to expand its energy export market.
Ethiopia has secured USD 140 million from energy exports in the recently concluded Ethiopian fiscal year, marking a 16 per cent increase from the previous year. Also, the country has a 17 per cent increase in domestic energy demand compared to last year.
In a press briefing on the annual performance, the CEO of Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), Ashebir Balcha, revealed that USD 27 million of the revenue came from supplying energy to data mining operations. He also shared plans for the current fiscal year, with EEP targeting over USD 260 million in energy export earnings.
As part of the country’s efforts to expand its energy export market, Ashebir announced that transmission testing to Tanzania will commence next month. Ethiopia has been exporting electricity to Sudan and Djibouti for a decade. Other neighbouring countries, such as South Sudan, have also requested that power be imported from Ethiopia. The country started exporting power to Kenya in November 2022.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) generated 17 per cent of the country’s total energy output despite operating only two of its 13 turbines during the last fiscal year. With the generation of additional energy from GERD, Ethiopia’s domestic energy supply will rise. Gibe III, GERD, and Tana Beles contributed 34 per cent, 17 per cent, and 9.6 per cent, respectively, to Ethiopia’s overall energy production.
Ethiopia has the potential to generate more than 60,000 MW of electric power from hydroelectric, wind, solar, and geothermal sources. Its Ogaden Basin also has seven trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves. Hydro and wind power accounted for 96 per cent and 3.3 per cent of the energy mix, while waste energy made up a marginal 0.2 per cent