Reinforcement of the Electrical Transmission Network in Ethiopia

In line with the acceleration of economic growth, the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), the Ethiopian state-owned utility, has been implementing a major investment program since the early 2000s. In just a few years, its production capacity has increased from 814 MW in 2005 to 2,167 MW in mid-2013.

In order to respond to the increase in electricity flows between production and consumption areas, major investments are being made throughout the high-voltage network architecture. Beyond this backbone, other reinforcements are necessary:

• The strong economic growth that Ethiopia has been experiencing for several years has led to the emergence of new activity centers that are poorly served by the high voltage network.
• The efforts made to connect users in rural and urban areas have contributed to an increase in electricity demand (+25% per year) and to overloading most transformer stations.

Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) has requested AFD financing in this framework to reinforce the transmission network supplying the city's southern industrial zones (Djibouti Road, the towns of Debre Zeit, Akaki and Modjo) and the Ginchi region to the west of Addis Ababa

The project involves the construction of 230 and 400 kV lines over approximately 70km between Mojo and Akaki, along a highly industrialized area vital for transportation (highway and railroad both linking the capital to the port of Djibouti) as well as the construction of 4 transformer substations (and the expansion of a fifth).

The project management assistance supports EEP in the implementation of the project, ensures the supervision of the works contracts and mainly trains EEP's planning and construction teams.

The purpose of the program is to improve the economic output and welfare of the population through the provision of reliable and competitive energy. The program has three sub-objectives:

• To enable industrial development through the supply of new industrial zones in the south of Addis Ababa, as well as to increase the available capacity for the more than 700 industrialists in the area already connected in 2013 (especially cement and metal industries that consume a lot of energy and are growing rapidly, driven by internal demand from the construction sector).
• Enable the connection of new villages to the national grid and improve service to connected users. The impact is estimated at 3,000 potential new households (15,000 people), and improved service for nearly 30,000 households (150,000 people).
• Strengthen EEP's planning and project management capabilities for the high voltage transmission infrastructure sub-sector.