Ethiopia announces ambitious power generation expansion programme

The Ethiopian government has announced ambitious plans to expand its generation capacity to 37,000MW by 2037 from 2,300MW now, to meet growing domestic demand and supply the region. Ethiopia already exports 60MW to Djibouti and 100MW to Sudan, and is constructing a 500kV interconnection with Kenya, capable of exporting 2,000MW. However, under the new programme, the government aims to export 4,000MW to nine countries in the region, potentially expanding its network of clients to the Southern African Power Pool and countries in North Africa. Aimed at turning Ethiopia into a middle-income country by 2023, the Growth and Transformation Plan seeks to double access rates, increasing the number of Ethiopians connected to the grid to 4m and expanding electricity services to 75% of towns and villages.