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EU funding of EUR 8 million granted for drilling at Tendaho geothermal project, Ethiopia

EU funding of EUR 8 million granted for drilling at Tendaho geothermal project, Ethiopia Well on site of Aluto Langano geothermal plant, Ethiopia (source: ThinkGeoEnergy, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 21 Jun 2018

The European Union through the European Union Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund has granted funding of EUR 8 million ($9.4m) to the Tendaho geothermal project in Ethiopia. The financing will enable to complete the drilling activities planned as part of the geothermal exploration.

A signing ceremony of two grants Agreements took place at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation (MoFEC) between Admasu Nebebe, Ethiopian State Minister of Finance and Economic Cooperation, Frederic Bontems, Ambassador of France to Ethiopia and Mr Ignace Monkam-Daverat, the French Agency for Development (AFD) Regional Manager in Addis Abeba, for a total of EUR 18 million ($21 million).

The first agreement, a EUR 10 million ($12 million)  grant will be provided by AFD in contribution to Urban Development will be part of a program co-financed by the World Bank and the government of Ethiopia.

With the second agreement, EUR 8 million ($9.4m) grant will be provided in contribution to the Tendaho Geothermal Development Project. It is funded by the European Union, through the European Union Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-AITF). This investment grant constitutes an additional funding to this project, which already benefited from a EUR 9 million concessional loan from AFD and a total of EUR 7,5 million from previous EU-AITF grants. The financing will enable to complete the drilling activities planned as part of the geothermal exploration and development effort in the Afar region.

The second project is implemented by Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), in coordination with Geological Survey of Ethiopia (GSE). It aims to support Ethiopian economic growth by developing geothermal energy, a source that is reliable and low carbon, and thereby to improve its capacity for climate change adaptation. The activities will focus on developing a shallow reservoir in Tendaho in order to allow a sustainable exploitation with a capacity of an estimated 10MW, and on exploiting a deep reservoir by drilling wells at great depth.          

Those two projects fit in with the priorities of AFD in Ethiopia, which are urban development, energy and support to the private sector.

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is the French bilateral development bank, which has been working for more than 70 years implementing French development-aid policy. In 2017, AFD committed for EUR 10.4 billion financing worldwide.

Source: Addis Standard