Ethiopia has earned $ 32.61 million from exporting electricity to neighboring Sudan and Djibouti.
However, exports to Sudan has saw a decline compared to last year.
According to Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), the state power utility, the above stated revenue was secured during the last five months of the Ethiopian fiscal year which begins in September.
Mr. Moges Mekonen, Director of Communications of Ethiopian Electricity, said that a total of 580 million kilowatt hours of electricity has been supplied to the two countries.
During the stated period, the Horn of Africa’s nation exported less power than initially planned to Khartoum.
The official said that the income obtained during the five months has saw a decline by 6.2 million dollars compared to the same period of the previous year.
The reported decline was due to reduced demand from the Sudanese electricity company, Mogos said without giving further details.
During the last two years, relations between Sudan and Ethiopia have deteriorated over the disputed border region of al-Fashaga.
Ethiopia’s mega-dam project, which is being constructed on the Nile river, has also been an intermittent source of tension between the two.
Sudan and Egypt fear that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is set to be Africa’s largest and which Addis Ababa is filling so it can produce electricity, would eventually diminish water flow to the downstream countries.
Last year, Ethiopia earned more than $ 95 million from electric energy export to the two east African countries.
A combined total of 1,700 GWh of electricity have been exported to Sudan and Djibouti in the previous year, generating 95.45 million US dollars in revenue.
Most of the export was made to Sudan.
About 1,109GWh of electricity worth $54.66m was sold to Sudan.
Djibouti also imported 600GWh electric energy and paid $40.78 million.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country is investing billions of dollars on construction of mega-dam project in a bid to become regional power hub.
(The East African Daily)
