Plans for five large wind parks are currently underway in Ethiopia and the government is considering building more in the coming year. The large-scale plans for wind energy include a goal of increasing Ethiopia’s production of wind energy by more than 1,000%. The project is estimated to cost over EUR 2.7 billion.

Ethiopia’s wind energy adventure started for earnest in 2013, when the country built one of Africa’s largest wind parks at the cost of EUR 247 million and followed it up with a large project in 2015.

-Related News: Denmark Supports the Largest Wind Power Project in Sub-Saharan Africa

Transition Occurring with Danish Expertise
An expert from the Danish Energy Agency has travelled to Ethiopia in order to assist with the design and planning of a series of bidding rounds for large-scale wind turbine projects in the country. In conjunction with Energinet (the independent Danish entity responsible for power transmission in Denmark), the agency will also assist in ensuring an effective integration of wind energy into the Ethiopian electricity grid.

-Ethiopia has plans to expand the country’s wind capacity by more than 5 GW towards 2025, which is equivalent to Denmark’s total wind capacity in 2015, says Denmark’s Energy, Utilities and Climate Minister, Lars Christian Lilleholt.

-It isn’t easy to develop good, concrete wind projects, but Denmark has significant expertise within precisely this area. With its large hydroelectric plants, Ethiopia has the possibility for the same effective balancing of wind energy that we have in the Nordic electricity system, the Minister elaborates.

-Related News: New Danish Export Strategy for Energy Technology

Too Dry for Hydropower
70 million Ethiopians currently don’t have access to electricity. This is despite the fact that the country is experiencing rapid growth, with annual rates of about 10%. This necessitates the use of a lot of power and it should be green. Today over 90% of the country’s power comes from hydropower. However, the rising drought means that this is not a sustainable solution. Therefore, Ethiopia wants to invest in wind turbines – with Danish guidance.

-Expanding cooperation with growth economies is a central aspect of the government’s export strategy. The cooperation will have a positive impact on the climate and can double the export of Danish energy technology towards 2030, the Minister states.

-Source: Udvikling magazine