The State-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) has signed a $120- million contract with UK-based company Cambridge Industries for the construction of a 50 MW waste-to-energy power plant.
The facility, which will be loca- ted at Repi, on the outskirts of the capital city, Addis Ababa, and will be the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, is being financed by the Ethiopian government.
“There is an urgent need to fill the gap in electricity demand that exists before commissioning big projects. The solution lies in bringing into operation quickly developed plants such as this project,” says EEPCo CEO Mihiret Debebe.
Currently, only a quarter of Ethiopia’s 80-million people have access to electricity. The country has an installed capacity of a mere 2 000 MW.
The plant, expected to be completed in ten months, will feed green energy into the national grid while also helping to reduce municipal solid waste.
“The UK is keen to work with Ethiopia in developing projects in the renewable-energy sector. It is an area where British firms have developed a wide variety of innovative ways to exploit renewable-energy resources efficiently,” says UK ambassador to Ethiopia Greg Dorey.
According to a study on the waste-to-energy potential of the Horn of Africa nation, 35 cities generate enough waste to generate electricity.
Cambridge is also conducting detailed feasibility studies in various Ethiopian cities, including Dire Dawa, Adama, Mekelle, Gonder, Behar Dar, Hawasa and Jimma.
Management of solid waste in Ethiopia has been a major challenge owing to a lack of proper planning in its cities and the mushrooming of informal settlements, driven by rising poverty levels.
Now Ethiopia intends to transform this social problem into wealth as it pushes ahead with massive investments in the energy sector.
The country, which hopes to become a net exporter of electricity to its neighbours, in investing a staggering $10,4-billion over the next four years in energy sources like hydro, wind and solar, with a target of generating 10 000 MW.
Ethiopia hopes that, by investing in clean renewable energy, it will become a carbon-neutral economy by 2025.