Ethiopia: Aba Samuel rehabilitation

Operation of Ethiopia’s oldest hydropower plant was handed back to state power utility Ethiopia Electric Power in mid-December following the completion of a two-year Chinese-led rehabilitation. An official handing-over ceremony was held on 15 December in the presence of minister of finance and economic cooperation Abraham Tekeste and Chinese ambassador La Yifan. The 6.6MW Aba Samuel plant on the Akaki River in the Awash river basin near Addis Ababa was rehabilitated by PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation under an engineering, procurement and construction contract, with grant financing of Y95m ($14m) from the government of China, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation.