Ethiopian energy ministry has launched a US$11mn solar systems project, which will be used to power 25,000 homes in rural areas of the country
The ministry’s director of public relations Bizuneh Tolcha said, “The installations will provide enough power for lighting, mobile phones, running computers and solar fridge for each home.”
Since the launch of the project, 13,200 solar systems have been installed across the East African country and on completion, 11,800 more will be installed.
In 2009, Ethiopia was plagued by power outages with less than 10 per cent of Ethiopians having access to electricity.
In order to overcome the situation, the government embarked on an ambitious dam-building program. Three hydropower plants, with a combined capacity of 1.18GW, were commissioned in 2009 and 2010 alone.
Tolcha said, “The new solar systems project will power locations not connected to the national grid system.
“The project, which carries a US$40mn grant from the World Bank, was launched to accelerate the development of renewable energy projects in the country,” he added.
