Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: The Ethiopian government said regional electric power interconnection among East African countries will enable the country to expand its renewable energy supply and generate at least 200 million U.S. dollars annually during the initial electric energy trading period.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Water and Energy, disclosing a new milestone in the East Africa Electric Highway project — a key power infrastructure initiative among Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, with the start of trial power supply from Kenya to Tanzania, said in a statement issued late Sunday that the initiative will promote common development among countries in the region.
Following the successful establishment of the first power supply infrastructure between Ethiopia and Kenya as part of the East African Electricity Highway project, the second phase of the project, connecting Kenya and Tanzania, has now been completed and commenced trial power supply, the ministry disclosed.
Noting that the regional power interconnection will enable Ethiopia to expand its renewable energy supply and play a role in promoting green electricity trading in the region, the ministry said the initiative will enable Ethiopia to generate an annual revenue of about 200 million U.S. dollars during the initial trading period.
The ministry said the regional electric power integration initiative will augment cooperation among countries by ensuring reliable energy supply at affordable prices, while facilitating common prosperity.
According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), the electricity highway between Ethiopia and Kenya, officially opened in 2023 after more than 10 years of planning and construction, is redefining energy connectivity in East Africa, connecting not just power grids but nations and populations.
It said the vision of a shared energy future, stretching 1,045 km between Wolayta-Sodo in Ethiopia and Suswa in Kenya, enables the two countries to pool resources — hydroelectricity from Ethiopia and geothermal and wind power from Kenya.
Ethiopia is currently in the final construction stage of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a key hydroelectricity development project. Once fully completed, the dam will have a generating capacity of 5,150 megawatts with an annual energy output of 15,760 gigawatt hours (GWH), according to official figures.
In June this year, the Ethiopian government disclosed that the GERD has generated more than 2,700 GWH of electricity in 10 months. With the new milestone, GERD contributed about 16 percent of the East African country’s total 16,900 GWH of electricity generated during the reported period from various power generating plants across the country. When the remaining units installed on the dam start producing power, it is expected to increase the country’s electricity generation capacity by 83 percent.
