Ethiopian Review

Italian based consulting company ELC, which is consulting on the Gilgel Gibe II hydroelectric power project has won the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) consultancy services for the upcoming hydroelectric power project planned for the Amhara Region near Debre Markos on the Chemoga-Yeda river.

Chemoga-Yeda Rivers flows throughout the year and is one of the tributaries of the Abay – the Blue Nile. The dam will be constructed by a Chinese company, Hydro Electro for a total cost of 300 million dollar. The funds are most likely to come from a loan from the Chinese Export Import (EXIM bank). The bank is waiting for the EPC tender process to finish before it releases the money, an official at the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) told Capital.

According to the feasibility study, the Chemoga Yeda project will have two stages. When the project is completed, it will generate 278 megawatts of electricity.

Currently, EEPCo is constructing over five hydroelectric power stations in different parts of the country. Out of these, two are in the final stages.

Gilgel Gibe II, the continuation of Gilgel Gibe I, is expected to generate the power within a few weeks, as is Tekeze. Both are reliant on the July rains to start generation. The two projects are scheduled to produce around 90 per cent of the total now being produced.

EEPCo is currently producing around 800MW from its hydropower plants and diesel generators, but alone the two hydro power projects will produce 720MW.

Recently, EEPCo announced plans to construct 10 hydropower plants in the next ten years at an outlay at 13.1 billion dollars.

Fan, with a capacity of generating 100 MW, Hallele-Werabessa 422-MW, Tekeze II 450-MW, Gibe IV 1900-MW, Genale III 258-MW, Genale IV 256-MW, Geba I & II 366-MW, Karadobi 1600-MW, Boarder 1200-MW, and Mendaya 2000-MW, are planned to be built or launched under the corporation’s 25 year master plan.

The country has a potential of 30,000MW hydroelectric power, making it the second in the continent after the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has a potential of 45,000 MW.

- By Muluken Yewondwossen | Capital Ethiopia