Minister’s push to exploit Ethiopia’s potential

The Ethiopian State Minister of Water Resources, Adunga Jebessa, has said that the African country has more than 30,000MW of economically exploitable hydro power.

The Minister said that the government, with help from a US$7M Norwegian grant, is undertaking feasibility studies of a number of hydroelectric projects, including Baro and Karadobi.

Past feasibility reports say that the Baro project consists of two power plants totalling 896MW, and place Karadobi at somewhere between 1000 to 1600MW.

Jebessa is keen for Ethiopia to focus more on hydro power for its energy needs and less on other means such as biomass. Official data puts Ethiopia’s exploitation of its hydro potential as a mere 2%.