Monday, December 17, 2012

Ethiopia continue damaing at the expense of its rivers in pretext of exporting to Khartoum's Sudan

by By Tesfa-Alem Tekle orginal title -

Khartoum’s Ethiopian hydro-power energy importation tests begin


December 16, 2012 (ADDIS ABAAB) -Ethiopia has started a test run of electricity supply to neighbouring Sudan, according to state power utility, Ethiopian Electric and Power Corporation(EEPCo).
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A member of the Karo tribe by the Omo river in Ethiopia. Three hydropower dams are planned - there are fears that the resulting scarcity could lead to violent conflict (Getty)
Head of EEPCo, Mihret Debeb, said that Ethiopia has been testing the power supply tests since the completion of the Ethiopia-Sudan transmission line.
The 230kV cross-border transmission line stretches for 296km from Ethiopia to Sudan.
Debeb said Sudan is now being provided with 100MW of electricity via the Gedaref-Galabat transmission line which will, in the long-term, enable Khartoum to replace its thermal power generating units with Ethiopia’s renewable and clean hydro-power generated energy.
According to Debeb, Sudanese president, Omar Al Bashir, will soon visit to Ethiopia to attend the project’s official inauguration ceremony.
Bashir is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Ethiopia’s new prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn.
Financed by the World Bank, the US$41million power project has three sections: Bahir Dar-Gondar, 137.2km; Gondar-Shehedie, 122km; and Shehedie-Metema, 37km.
The final section of the project connects with a transmission line in the east Sudanese city of Gedaref, which joins the power grid of the two neighbouring countries.
The Ethiopia-Sudan Transmission Line Project will eventually link Ethiopia’s hydro-electric power source to the rest of East Africa via projects between Ethiopia-Kenya, Tanzania-Zambia-Kenya-Uganda and Ethiopia-Sudan-Egypt.
As part of the five year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), Ethiopia is aiming to boost its power production capacity from the current 3000MW to 10,000MW when the construction of a multi-billion dollar dam project on the Nile is completed by 2015.
The Nile dam project which will be Africa’s biggest has hydro electricity generation capacity of 6,000MW.
Ethiopia is considered among continent’s leading natural energy producer and has an estimated hydroelectric production capacity of 45,000MW.
In 2010 the ethnic rights organisation, Survival International described Ethiopia’s plans to build Africa’s largest hydro-electric dam as “atrocious,” claiming that it will displace 200,000 people. The Italian company responsible for the construction of the dam denied the claims.
In 2012 the New York-based Human Rights Watch claimed planned sugar plantations, which will be irrigated by the same Gibe III hydropower project could affect at least 200,000 people in the World Heritage Site, Omo Valley, and 300,000 people across the border in Kenya’s Lake Turkana region.
The UN has also voiced its concern about the project.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Kenya-Ethiopia power import deal enters new phase with tender call - Business_News - nation.co.ke


RATING
PHOTO | FILE President Kibaki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn during the signing of a special status agreement at State House in Nairobi, in November 2012. The Kenya-Ethiopia interconnector will have a capacity of 2,000 megawatts.
PHOTO | FILE President Kibaki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn during the signing of a special status agreement at State House in Nairobi, in November 2012. The Kenya-Ethiopia interconnector will have a capacity of 2,000 megawatts.  NATION MEDIA GROUP
By IMMACULATE KARAMBU ikarambu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Tuesday, December 4  2012 at  21:06
IN SUMMARY
  • Ethiopia is currently constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, expected to generate 6,000 megawatts, partly for export to the region, and is scheduled to be completed in 2018
  • The Kenya-Ethiopia interconnector will have a capacity of 2,000 megawatts, although in a deal signed last year by Kenya’s Energy ministry and the Government of Ethiopia, the country intends to import an initial 400 megawatts of electricity
  • In September, the board of AfDB approved a $348 million loan to fund the project, adding to another $684 million loan that had been approved by the World Bank’s board of directors towards the same course
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The push to import electricity from Ethiopia has entered a new phase, with a call for tenders to set up substations linking Kenya and Ethiopia.
The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (Ketraco), a State corporation set up to develop electricity transmission infrastructure, on Monday advertised tenders for contractors to install substations in Suswa, Kenya and Wolayita Sodo in Ethiopia from where power will be connected to the national grids of both countries.
The next step will be to lay high voltage lines connecting the Kenya National Grid and that of Ethiopia.
This will allow Kenya Power to import power, cutting on the supply deficit that has been created by low local generation capacity against a growing demand for power.
Ethiopia is currently constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, expected to generate 6,000 megawatts, partly for export to the region, and is scheduled to be completed in 2018.
The project is funded by the International Development Association of the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank.
“The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the Republic of Kenya intend to apply part of the proceeds of these credits to payments under the contract for design, supply, installation and commissioning of HDVC converter stations in Ethiopia and Kenya,” read the tender notice in part.
The Kenya-Ethiopia interconnector will have a capacity of 2,000 megawatts, although in a deal signed last year by Kenya’s Energy ministry and the Government of Ethiopia, the country intends to import an initial 400 megawatts of electricity.
Project funds
In September, the board of AfDB approved a $348 million loan to fund the project, adding to another $684 million loan that had been approved by the World Bank’s board of directors towards the same course.
Of the World Bank funds, Kenya received $441 million and the rest was allocated to Ethiopia. The current installed capacity stands at slightly above 1,500 megawatts, with only less than 30 per cent of the country’s population having access to electricity.
The project, which is set for completion by the end of 2016, is one of many projects being undertaken by countries within East Africa to facilitate trade of power within the region.
The pool consists of all the EAC member states in addition to Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan.
According to Ketraco, construction of a 1,000 megawatts interconnector that will link Kenya to Rwanda and Burundi through Uganda is set to begin, while tenders for the construction of a similar connection between Kenya and Tanzania are expected to be floated soon.
“We already have a contractor on the ground to construct the Kenya-Uganda interconnector. Very soon, tenders will be called for the construction of the Kenya-Tanzania interconnector,” said a spokesperson from Ketraco.