Newly Inaugurated Dam Uplifts Ethiopia’s Power Generating Capacity to 4514MW

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) inaugurated USD451 million worth Genale Dawa III hydro-power project, which has increased the country’s generation capacity to 4,514MW. Constructed by China Gezhouba Group Corporation, Chinese Exim Bank covered 85Pct of the project cost, while the remaining was financed by the federal government.

Located in State of Oromia, Southeast Ethiopia, the dam has the capacity to hold 2.6 million cubic meters of water with three turbines generating 84 .7MW each. The project, which has been under construction since 2010, is expected to help the country improve access to electricity for its 110 million people.

The energy sector is among priorities of the government, which plans to make the country a light manufacturing hub in Africa by 2025. It also targets to increase the country’s electricity generation capacity to 17,300 MW by 2025, with power generation projects in hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass sectors.