Ethiopia ink deal for 300MW wind project

The government of Egypt has sealed a deal for the development of a 300MW onshore wind power project. The agreement worth US $600M was inked between the country’s Ministry of Finance and AMEA POWER.

The dubbed Aysha wind energy project is poised to become the largest wind energy project in the Horn of Africa. It will be set up in an expansive 18,000-hectar land in Ethiopia’s Horn of Africa region, taking advantage of the abundant wind resources in the area.

The Aysha Wind Power Project is projected to produce approximately 1.22 Tera-Wh of electricity annually. This significant increase in power generation capacity is expected to address Ethiopia’s growing demand for electricity. The project is anticipated to create around 2,000 jobs during both the construction and operational phases, providing economic benefits to the local community.

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Economic growth

“The Aysha wind power project will be implemented with strong government-to-government support by AMEA Power, prominent private sector player,” said Minister Ahmed Shide.

Abebe  Gebrehiwot  of the PPP Directorate stated for his part “This project represents a major stride in our  journey towards increasing clean energy, production, providing sustainable electricity  to our people, and driving economic growth and job creation in the region.”

Ethiopia has abundant renewable energy resources and has the potential to generate over 60,000 megawatts (MW) of electric power from hydroelectric, wind, solar and geothermal sources. As a result of Ethiopia’s rapid GDP growth over the previous decade, demand for electricity has been steadily increasing. Despite Ethiopia’s energy potential, the country is experiencing energy shortages and load shedding as it struggles to serve a population of over 105 million people and meet growing electricity demand that is forecast to grow by approximately 30% per year.