Source: ERTA
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 French-run
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 neighbouring
countries.
"Ethiopia stands alone in Africa as using green
energy for transformative growth," said Ahmed
Soliman, from Britain's Chatham House think
tank. Current energy production capacity stands
at 2,177MW, with ambitions to reach 10 000MW
by 2015.
Ashegoda's turbines, which tower above young
boys in tattered clothes watching over their
livestock, have a total capacity of 120MW, making
it the biggest on the sub-continent. The project
was built by France's Vergnet Group, and is the
first of several planned wind farms in the
country, including a 204MW Chinese-built site
under construction in the southeast.
Ashegoda, 780km from Addis Ababa, is part of
ambitious plans to transform Ethiopia into a
middle-income, carbon-neutral country by 2025.
The $313m wind farm, funded by the French
government and several private French banks, is
an indication of growing interest from European
companies in Ethiopia, where Chinese, Indian and
Turkish investments are also growing.
Both France and Ethiopia's government are "very
enthusiastic to reinforce even more links", said
Romano Coutrot, site manager at the wind farm,
adding Ashegoda is one of Vergnet's "most
important" projects globally.
The project took four years to complete and
became fully operational in October, but faced
several hurdles along the way. Soaring up to
80m high, the turbines had to be driven to
landlocked Ethiopia on semi-paved roads from
Djibouti, which posed a major challenge.
Completion was further delayed to relocate the
site 5km north after the aviation authority said it
was interfering with its airspace.
Coutrot admitted that doing business in Ethiopia
can be challenging, with infrastructure shortfalls
and crippling bureaucracy. "The taxation system,
customs, the relationship with authorities, it's
sometimes a bit difficult," he said, speaking from
his office on site amid the imposing turbines.
Ethiopia ranks 125 out of 189 countries on the
World Bank's ease of doing business index.
"Government services like customs, land issues,
other government services are improving," said
Minister for Water and Energy Alemayehu
Tegenu, insisting the government was
committed to improving conditions for investors.
The government says its investment in green
energy is a central pillar of its development plan,
crucial in a country where the majority of people
live on less than $2 a day. "Health, education,
communication, water supply, industry, these all
need sustainable and reliable power supply,"
Alemayehu said.
Only 53% of the country currently has access to
electricity, with large swathes of Ethiopia's rural
regions in the dark and relying on firewood for
basic household needs. "Unless you have this
kind of ambitious plan, the pace of population
pressure will take over and you won't see any
change," said Belay Simane, professor of
environment at Addis Ababa University.
The country is already exporting power to
Djibouti and Sudan, with a line to transport
energy to Kenya under construction. Soliman
said it will solidify Ethiopia's role as a leader in
green energy in the region.
"Ethiopia will have a competitive regional
advantage, not having to rely on economically
and technically less-feasible sources of energy
such as gas or oil to meet growing demands,
which many East African countries are doing,"
Soliman said.
The hard currency earned from these power
exports will go toward increasing the number of
renewable energy projects in Ethiopia, according
to the government.
Heavy investment in the green energy sector
extends beyond economics: the country is keen
to avoid the mistakes of countries such as China
or India, that experienced rapid economic growth
but with grave environmental costs.
"If we invest in these resources, we ca
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