Two American companies, Global Trade Development Consulting and its project development partner, Energy Ventures, have announced that they have been awarded the contract by the Ethiopian ministry of water, irrigation and energy to build, operate, and transfer three 100-MW solar farms in eastern Ethiopia. Solar PV electricity generating systems are emerging renewable energy technologies and can be developed as a viable option for electricity generation in future. This project also aims to improve the provision of power supply by enhancing the capacity mix of the Ethiopian national grid system and reducing system losses and providing alternative electricity green energy solutions.
The energy policy of Ethiopia envisages electricity generation installed capacity of more than 20 000 MW by 2020 and a substantial contribution would be from renewable energy. The project will contribute to economic development resulting in the creation of more than 2 000 construction jobs that would inject additional revenue to the Ethiopian economy. The Ethiopian minister of water, irrigation and energy, Alemayehu Tegenu, said: “This project represents a significant advance in our energy initiative.
“Given Ethiopia’s large hydro-electric generation capacity and now wind and geothermal power generation coming on-line, the large scale solar project will provide significant power generation capacity much faster than the other renewable technologies.”