Ethiopia has moved a notch higher in its quest to become a regional powerhouse in electricity generation, following the commissioning of the 120 MW Ashegoda wind farm.

Commissioned more than a year behind schedule, the plant, the first of numerous wind power plants the Horn of Africa nation is building to come on stream, is Africa’s biggest operational wind farm. The plant was constructed at a cost of €210-million by French company Vergnet Group.

Prime Minister Haile-Mariam Desalegn says the farm forms part of massive investments in the energy sector aimed at generating 30 000 MW from renewable resources, in line with the country’s development blueprint, the Grand Transformation Plan.

“We must develop sufficient and sustainable energy from renewable sources . . . to achieve middle- income status,” he says.

Various studies have proved there is potential to harness abundant wind energy resources in every region of Ethiopia.

The Ashegoda farm project was developed in three phases, with the first phase having a nameplate capacity of 30 MW, while a phases 2 and 3 produce a total of 90 MW.

Ethiopia is investing heavily in wind, geothermal and hydro plants, which, it hopes, will enable it to achieve universal electricity access for its 80-million citizens, facilitate double-digit economic growth and result in the country becoming a net exporter of electricity to its neighbours.

Ethiopia has the capacity to generate 5 000 MW from geothermal, 10 000 MW from wind and 45 000 MW from hydropower.

A study conducted by Chinese company Hydro-China Corpor- ation last year shows that Ethiopia has the capacity to generate over 1.3-million megawatts from wind.

Apart from Ashegoda, other wind projects being undertaken include the Adama I and II projects, with an installed capacity of 51 MW each, the Assela project (100 MW), the Ayisha project (300 MW) and the Messobo project (42 MW).

The wind projects form part of a vast investment programme in the energy sector, which also includes mega hydropower projects like the 5 250 MW Great Renaissance Dam, the 1 800 MW Gibe III hydropower plant and Gibe IV and Gibe V plants, which will generate 1 472 MW and 560 MW respectively.

In October, Ethiopia unveiled plans to construct Africa’s largest geothermal power plant, which will generate 1 000 MW.