Ethiopia signs $600m deal to construct largest wind farm in Horn region
The Ethiopian Ministry of Finance has announced that the country has entered into a 600-million-dollar agreement with UAE’s AMEA Power for the construction of a wind farm to boost the generation of power.
The project, to be sited in Aysha in the Somali Region State, eastern Ethiopia, will be a 300MW wind project spread across 18,000 hectares and will produce approximately 1.22TWh of electricity a year, Construct Africa reports.
“The wind farm will be built on 18,000 hectares of land and create job opportunities for thousands of Ethiopians,” a statement released by state-owned utility company Ethiopia Electric Power (EEP) read.
In an X post, AMEA Energy announced, "We're thrilled to announce the Horn of Africa's largest onshore wind energy project – Aysha One (I) - 300 MW, in the dynamic landscape of Ethiopia. This marks the first Independent Power Producer (IPP) project in the country, setting a new standard in the region's renewable energy sector."
"This project, being the largest in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, is a result of our rigorous adherence to the newly announced Public Private Partnership Law. We're on track to sign the Power Purchase Agreement with Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) and the Implementation Agreement with Ethiopia's Ministry of Finance," the post further read.
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Although Ethiopia possesses significant potential for renewable energy, it grapples with power shortages and load shedding. The difficulty arises from the task of catering to a population exceeding 120 million and addressing an anticipated 30% annual surge in electricity demand.
Ethiopia aims to boost its electricity generation capacity to 13.5 gigawatts by 2040, the National News reports.
The Ministry of Finance says the wind farm, called Aysha 1, will be the largest energy project in the Horn of Africa region.
