Ethiopia’s quest to become a power hub and the battery for the Horn of Africa got a tremendous boost as Siemens Gamesa signs a wind power project with the state-owned electricity company, Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) to provide electricity to over 400,000 households in the country.
The East-African country has abundant energy resources, particularly wind, with a potential 10 GW of installed capacity with 324 MW already achieved – according to the African Development Bank.
Siemens Gamesa, a giant in the wind power industry with a touch on all aspects of the renewable energy business including offshore, onshore, and services, is set to facilitate the state-owned utility, EEP, with 29 SG 3.4-132 wind turbines for the Assela project – a 100 MW wind farm which will power sizeable percentage of the country’s households.
The wind farm, expected to be commissioned by Spring 2023, is calculated to save more than 260,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
The Chief Executive Officer, Onshore Southern Europe and Africa at Siemens Gamesa, Roberto Sabalza, said “Siemens Gamesa is intent on expanding its leadership across Africa, and in turn help a growing transition to green energy across the continent. So, we are extremely pleased to begin work in Ethiopia and look forward to collaborating with both EEP and the country to continue to promote their drive to install more renewables and meet transformational energy targets.” With this resolve meeting the aspiration of Ethiopia as the country expands its green energy capacity to meet ambitious renewable targets, the nation is already on the unwavering path to becoming a power hub in Africa.
Without doubt, the 100 MW Assela wind farm planned to be strategically sited between Adama and Assela, approximated at 150 km south of Addis Ababa, the nation’s capital will help achieve the country’s target of 100 per cent domestic power supply for the nation by 2030.
The project is targeted to generate about 300,000 MWh per year with Siemens Gamesa providing full engineering, procurement, and turnkey construction and will be financed by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs via Danida Business Finance (DBF) adding to a loan agreement signed between the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation (MoFEC) and Danske Bank A/S.
According to a Wood Mackenzie forecast, around 2 GW of wind power would be installed in Ethiopia by 2029.
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