The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) has completed the construction of a power transmission line that connects the Ethiopian power grid to Sudan.
The 296km long, 230kV line, will enable Ethiopia to export 100MW of electricity to Sudan, making Khartoum the second beneficiary after Djibouti which imports 35MW of electricity. By 2016, Ethiopia will also export 400MW of power to Kenya.
The project was funded by the World Bank at a cost of $41M and will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by utilising Ethiopia’s surplus hydropower.
Ethiopia has Africa’s second-biggest hydropower potential after the Congo, but only a portion of this huge resource has been exploited so far.
The Ethiopian Government has been investing in power plants over the past few years, making Ethiopia an emerging regional power hub. In the next five to ten years, Ethiopia hopes to make electricity, rather than coffee, its biggest export, when the power plants currently under construction and other new dams are complete.
Source: Ethiopian Embassy in London