Ethiopia Opens New
Power Plant
A
new hydroelectric plant has been inaugurated in Ethiopia, as
part of plans to change its fortune from a country suffering
crippling power cuts to a major electricity exporter.
The power project on the Omo River, Gilgel Gibe II, has the
capacity to generate more than 400 megawatts of electricity.
The plant gets its water through an underground channel from the
first Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric project.
This is the second plant to be inaugurated in almost as many
months and a few more projects are in the pipeline to ensure
that the power shortages of last year never recur.
The next stage, Gilgel Gibe III, is expected to generate about
1,800MW of power.
Ethiopia's government wants the country to generate its own
electricity and export it to the region.
A report says Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan have already agreed to
buy power from Ethiopia.
BBC/Yinka
