Ethiopian Review

By Groum Abate

Ethiopia, Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), and BNP Paribas on Thursday signed a financing agreement amounting to 210 million Euros for implementation of the Ashegoda Wind Power Project in Tigray State.
The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) and Vergnet Groupe, a French wind turbine manufacturer, have signed an agreement worth 210 million Euros for setting up a large wind farm to generate electric power, in Ashegoda area, 30 kilometers from Mekele. The French company won the contract, beating contenders from China and Spain.
Chief Executive Officer of EEPCo, Mihret Debebe and ambassador of France to Ethiopia, Jean-Christophe Belliard signed the agreement.
With an installed capacity of 120 MW, along with annual energy production of 400 to 450 GWH, the Ashegoda wind harnessing project came as the first of its kind for Ethiopia.
The project has an implementation schedule of 36 months from the date of commencement to bring the whole wind energy converter units into commercial operation. However, the first phase yielding 30MW capacity will be commissioned in 16 months after contract commencement.
Ashegoda Wind Power project is going to be one of the six generation projects currently under construction with an overall budget of 3.1 billion Euros.
The feasibility study was conducted by Lahmeyer International of Germany, with the close collaboration of GTZ.
VERGNET was founded in 1988 by current CEO, Marc Vergnet, and today, is the leading manufacturer in its two business areas: design and manufacture of wind turbines for the FARWIND® market, and water supply equipment for Africa.
According to a study by Kebede Walelu, ‘Wind Energy Projects in Ethiopia’ wind power in Ethiopia is complementary to hydro power. The study further noted that in the rainy season the country sees low wind and in the dry season the potential of wind becomes high.
According to the study, combining the two, wind and hydro power, will add value to the hydro power plant by elongating their operational time.
Nazret has the best wind resource (9.3 m/s) followed by Ashegoda with 8.5 m/s and Harena with 6.9 m/s annual wind speeds 40 m above ground.
Currently, approximately 17 per cent of the population have access to electricity. The Government has launched a universal electricity access program to be executed by EEPCo with the view to increase access to 50 per cent by 2010.

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