Ethiopia Rejects Dam Criticism, Targets 10,000 MW

|Medeshivalley.com|


Written by solomon   
Ethiopia on Thursday rejected criticism of its massive hydropower dam projects and vowed to push ahead with plans to boost its power generating ability from 2,000 MW to 10,000 MW within five years.

"We have a plan to reach 10,000 MW within the coming five years," mines and energy minister, Alemayehu Tegenu, told Reuters in an interview. "Most of the energy we plan to generate will come from hydropower."
Ethiopia is overwhelmingly reliant on dams for its energy needs and has opened three over the last year, bringing the total number in the country to seven. Another two are being built, including the huge Gibe III.
Regarding those groups who have started campaign against the Gibe III dam, Alemayehu said these organisations do not want Ethiopia to develop.
"Criticising countries like Ethiopia is their source of income. They have no reason to attack our dams. We have environmental and social plans in place."
Replying to the question whether there is enough source of funding for the projects, Almayehu said, "It's not a big problem for us. And the funding at the moment is coming from our government."
Alemayehu further said Ethiopia's hydropower plans have no any effect on Egypt who fears more dams on Ethiopia's stretch of the Nile could leave it thirsty.
"What we will construct on the river will never cause any problems for the Egyptians," Alemayehu said. "But the Egyptians always stand against Ethiopian development. They need to understand better what we are planning."
Alemayehu, however, ruled out the possibility that war could erupt over the Nile. "That will never happen," he said. "Never."

 Ethiopia plans to export power to neighbouring Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya as soon as it meets its own growing energy needs, Alemayehu said. "We are now building interconnectivity infrastructure with Sudan and Djibouti and that should be finished within six months."
Power demand in Africa will rise by 150,000 MW between 2007 and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.