Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: July 10 (Ethiopian Informer) — Ethiopia will commission the Chinese built 254 Mega Watts Genale Dawa III hydro project in August, an Ethiopian official said on Wednesday.
Speaking to local and foreign media, Sileshi Bekele, Minister, Ethiopia Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE), said final construction works are underway in a bid to commission the 254 MW Genale Dawa III hydro project in August, coming at a crucial time as Ethiopia struggles with acute power shortages.
“Ethiopian and Chinese engineers are finishing final works on the hydro project to make it ready for commissioning in August,” said Bekele.
The 254 MW Genale Dawa III hydro project, located in southeastern Ethiopia, is currently being built by China Gezhouba Group at a cost of around 450 million U.S. dollars.
The Ethiopian government plans to increase its electricity generation capacity from the current 4,200 MW to about 17,300 MW by 2020 using hydro, wind, geothermal, biomass and solar energy.
The energy sector is one of Ethiopia’s priorities as the country envisages to become a light manufacturing hub in Africa together with a middle-income economy by 2025. Enditem
