Tanzania to sign 400MW power purchase deal with Ethiopia

Tanzanian authorities said on Saturday that the country will sign a 400 megawatts power purchase agreement with Ethiopia in the coming weeks.

Felchesmi Mramba, Managing Director of state-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company, said the official signing of the power pact will be preceded by a meeting in Arusha of 10 member states of the Eastern Africa Power Pool.

Countries forming the Eastern Africa Power Pool are Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea and Tanzania.

"The Eastern Africa Power Pool has attained a new development as Tanzania works on the final details before signing the power transmission agreement with Ethiopia," said Mramba.

He said the agreement will be followed by installation of power generation and transmission facilities that will not only foster economic integration but also cater for the region's power needs for the next 25 years.

"The Eastern Africa Power Pool project aims at enabling the East African Community (EAC) member states to identify sources of cheap electricity for increased power interchanges," said Mramba.

Ethiopia has made progress in hydro-power generation and also endowed with abundant renewable energy resources. Currently, Ethiopia generates 6,000 megawatts of power that can be accessible to neighbouring states.

Ethiopia has been exporting electricity to neighboring countries like Djibouti and Sudan, and the transmission line to Kenya is under construction. Burundi and Rwanda have also shown interest to import energy from Ethiopia. 

Source : XINHUA