Business
Ethiopia: The power house spearheading green energy in Africa
Ashegoda Wind Farm. PHOTO/File
From the sky, the 84 glimmering white turbines at Ashegoda wind farm shoot up from the ground like massive spokes, standing out high amid vast expanses of yellow wheat.
Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, mostly populated by cattle farmers who grow the country’s staple grains, is an unlikely site for a modern wind farm, let alone sub-Saharan Africa’s largest.
With its multi-billion dollar projects in wind, hydropower, solar and geothermal energy, Ethiopia’s pioneering green energy efforts aim to supply power to its 91 million people and boost its economy by exporting power to neighboring countries.
“Ethiopia stands alone in Africa as using green energy for transformative growth,” said Ahmed Soliman, from the Chatham House think tank.
Current energy production capacity stands at 2177 megawatts (MW), with ambitions to reach 10,000 MW by 2015.
Ashegoda’s turbines, have a total capacity of 120 megawatts, making it the biggest on the sub-continent.
Ashegoda, 780 kilometers (484 miles) from Addis Ababa, is part of ambitious plans to transform Ethiopia into a middle-income, carbon-neutral country by 2025.
