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Ethiopia and China sign a $459 million hydro-electric project agreement for Gibe IIIMay 12, 2010 (Nazret com)Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) and China's Dongfang Electric Corporation signed a $459 million loan accord on Wednesday that will enable the Chinese company to execute the electro and hydro-mechanical works of the Gibe III Hydroelectric Project, ENA reported. The agreement was signed by the chief executive of the Ethiopian Electricity Power Corporation (EEPCo), Mihret Debebe and the president of the Dongfang Electric Corporation, Luo Zhigang. At 243 metres the Gibe III dam will be the highest on the African continent, a controversial centrepiece of Ethiopia’s extraordinary multibillion-dollar hydroelectric boom. Gibe III, which will have a generating capacity of 1,870 megawatts (MW) – double what was available in all of Ethiopia last year. The total cost of the project is estimated at about $2 billion. International activist groups were urging Western donors and banks not to fund the Gibe III hydro-electric dam project. Ethiopia and several African countries are increasingly looking at China as a partner for development. By 2020, with the help of Italian and Chinese construction firms, Ethiopia will, it hopes, have increased its power generation capacity 15-fold and become a significant exporter of electricity to the region. ----------Recently completed and Planned Hyrdoelectric Projects Tekeze 300 MW Gilgel Gibe II 420 MW Belese 460 MW Gibe III 1870 MW Fincha-Amerti-nesh 100 MW Chemoga Yeda 280 MW wind Project 120 MW Gibe IV 1472 MW Gibe V 560 MW Halele-Werabesa 420 MW Click HERE to go to the source of this article. |