Ethiopia is set to start electric transmission to Kenya later this year after signing a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with its East African neighbor, APA learnt on Thursday.
The agreement is expected to boost the annual energy export trade of Ethiopia which currently sells electric power to Sudan and Djibouti.
The two neighboring nations imported 1,700GWh of electricity in the last twelve months.
Top officials of the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) and Kenya Power and Lighting Company Plc signed the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) on Wednesday.
As per the agreement, Ethiopia will export 200 Megawatt of energy to Kenya in the first phase of the power export, with a plan to increase to 400MW in due course.
The signing follows the completion of the $1.26 billion Kenya-Ethiopia Electricity Highway Project involving installation of a 1,068km-long power transmission line and two AC/DC converter stations at both ends.
The project will ensure access to reliable and affordable energy to around 870,000 to 1.4 million Kenyan households of which 18 percent will be located in rural areas, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance said.
“The trial transmission of power will start in few weeks,” revealed the ministry, ahead of a scheduled launch of full capacity power export in November 2022.
The finance ministry said the project would also add yet another new export market for the EEP in Africa that could “generate a significant amount of revenue” for the government-owned electric producer company.
In the recently concluded 2021/22 budget year, electric power export to Sudan and Djibouti brought in more than $95.5 million, kicking in 2 percent of Ethiopia’s annual revenue from export trade.
MG/as/APA