State Grid Corporation of China to provide $1.8bn to Ethiopia to develop electricity transmission

Ethiopia is on the verge of getting USD 1.8 billion from the State Grid Corporation of China to improve electricity transmission and distribution networks across the country.

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed had already signed the agreement China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure). According to him, the government of Ethiopia has set out a plan to construct 9,000 kilometres of distribution lines and 19,600 kilometres of the transmission line.

“Ethiopia has made the development of its estimated 60GW of renewable energy a cornerstone of its 15-year Growth and Transformation Plan. The country now has about 4.5GW of installed capacity for a population of more than 100 million whose demand for power is growing at about 30% a year,” Abiy Ahmed opined, as reported by Construction Review Online.

The East African country intends to augment its current 4,300 megawatt of electricity generation capacity to 17,300 megawatt by 2025 with power generation projects in hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass sectors. Currently, Ethiopia has been able to provide electricity to 30 percent of its overall geographical area. Scarcity of funds and foreign debts, what Abiy Ahmed said, is creating hurdles on infrastructural investment and development.

A total of 17 projects were unveiled by the Ethiopian government in late 2018. Out of 17, three were road construction projects while the remaining 14 were power supply projects.

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