Development Bank of Ethiopia to commit $20m for geothermal drilling
Aluto Langano Geothermal Power Plant (source: bgr.bund.de)
Alexander Richter
16 Aug 2013
The Development Bank of Ethiopia commits $20 million for geothermal drilling with additional $20 million to be provided later to help on the development of the geothermal resources in Ethiopia.
With an increasing growth in GDP, about 10% this year, Ethiopia is in dire need to strengthen its industrial base. This entails the need to continue build electricity generation capacity and to utilize the opportunity to be come an electricity exporter for the region.
Ethiopia is blessed with an abundance of both hydro and geothermal resources. It is estimated that the country has a potential of up to 5,000 MW in geothermal power generation capacity and 45,000 MW of hydropower, the latter represents the second largest hydropower capacity in Africa after the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“Now, the Development Bank of Ethiopia has committed US$20 million to geothermal drilling with an additional US$20 million due to become available at a later date. In addition some US$13 billion will be spent on developing hydro generation capacity in Ethiopia over the next decade. This investment does not cover the additional expenditure on transmission and distribution infrastructure, which is also being planned, both for local electrification needs, and for export purposes.” so recent news.
Source: ESI Africa
