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Ethiopian Sugar Corporation has told African Energy that 75MW of co-generation capacity, being developed as part of its wider Tana-Beles sugar project in the Amhara region, will come online this year. The plants are the 45MW Tana Beles I, expected to be commissioned in Q2 21, and the 30MW Tana Beles II, expected in Q4 21.

Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has successfully drilled the first well on Tulu Moye geothermal project and has begun drilling a second well, according to a mid-April statement. The five-phase project is expected to eventually generate 520MW.

In a contribution to the region’s most hotly contested cross-border issue, an academic study published on 8 April in Nature Energy has argued for the coupling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) with variable solar and wind power from within the East African Power Pool (EAPP). This could overcome the conflicting interests of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt over the future operation of Africa’s largest hydropower plant, the study, written by researchers from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, KU Leuven, the University of Bonn and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research claimed.

China’s Sinosoar signed an agreement on 12 March with the state Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) to design, build and operate a solar-diesel mini-grid in Bokolomayo Village in the south of Somali Regional State. 

The Ministry of Finance is seeking to appoint individual consultants to assist with the coordination and implementation of a power sector reform and privatisation roadmap. Bids are invited by 8 April for an individual power sector technical and strategy advisor and an individual power sector policy/regulatory advisor to support the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy and Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP).

The World Bank Group (WBG) has released details of its planned Access to Distributed Electricity and Lighting in Ethiopia (ADELE) project. The $500m International Development Association loan – which will support investment in the national grid, mini-grids, solar home systems (SHS) and standalone solar systems – is expected to be put to the board for approval later this year and will last for six years.

Siemens Gamesa announced on 4 January that it has signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Ethiopian Electric Power to build the 100MW Assela wind farm. The contract includes the delivery of 29 SG 3.4-132 wind turbines, which are expected to come online in Q1 2023. The plant is expected to produce 330MWh/yr of electricity at less than €0.09/kWh ($0.11/kWh).

Siemens Gamesa announced on 4 January that it has signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Ethiopian Electric Power to build the 100MW Assela wind farm.

Much is expected of Joe Biden after he is sworn in on 20 January; some of the anticipated policy shifts the United States’ 46th president and his administration may deliver, others they may not – including reversing some controversial policies promoted by his predecessor.

Participants at an Africa Investment Exchange panel on strategies for regional integration and transmission investment on 27 October provided an update on the progress of the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP), where the secretariat has been busy preparing for electricity trading and a growing network of interconnections. By far the most advanced construction work is on interconnectors between Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania, which are expected to transmit their first power between April and June next year.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched prequalification for a tender to develop small solar PV systems to power its operations in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Contractors will finance, build and operate plants at up to ten UNHCR sites. Expression of interests are due by 30 November. A request for proposals is scheduled to be issued in early 2021 and further tenders are expected.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s in-tray would terrify almost any political leader. He will watch the US election results with special interest after President Donald Trump signalled his frustration over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam by observing that Egypt would “end up blowing up the dam and… they have to do something”. Trump blamed Ethiopia for failed negotiations chaired by the United States earlier this year.

Water, irrigation and energy minister Seleshi Bekele has said that the 2,160MW Koysha dam is 39% complete during a visit to the project with United Nations Economic Commission for Africa executive secretary Vera Songwe. The project is being built by Salini Impregilo – now Webuild – on the Omo River. Work started on pouring reinforced concrete for the powerhouse and dam foundations in H1 2020.

The Ethiopian parliament last month approved a loan agreement signed by the Ministry of Finance and Danske Bank, guaranteed by the Danish government, for the 100MW Assela wind power project. The Danish embassy in Addis Ababa said that approval by parliament marked the end of financing negotiations and start of implementation.

The United States has suspended up to $130m of foreign assistance to Ethiopia as a result of its dispute with Egypt and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, provoking a defiant response from the government in Addis Ababa. On 31 August, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the United States Fitsum Arega tweeted that he had met US officials and they had told him there would be a “temporary pause”.