Ethiopia - Energy and power

The Finchaa River Dam at the head of Lake T'ana, the largest hydroelectric project in the country, was officially inaugurated in November 1974. This plant was built at a cost of about $40 million and had an installed generating capacity of 84 MW and a potential annual output of approximately 532 million kWh. A 152-MW station at Malka Wekana on the Wabi Shebelle River, funded by the former USSR and Czechoslovakia, was constructed in the 1980s. Three hydroelectric plants in the Awash River Basin date from the 1960s. By 1980, most public power-generating sources, including all major hydroelectric plants, were part of three regional power grids.

As of 2001, expansion of the Finchaa Dam and completion of the Tis Abay 2 project were expected to increase the country's generating capacity by 25%. In addition, the Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric plant, expected to be operational by mid-2003, would add another 184 MW of capacity. A 300-MW facility was also planned for Tekeze. In 2001 fewer than half the towns in Ethiopia had electricity. Production of electricity totaled 1,630 million kWh in 2000, and nearly 100% of that amount was hydroelectric. Consumption in the same year was 1.5 billion kWh. Total installed capacity in 2001 was 529 MW. Ethiopia has vast untapped geothermal power sources.

Petroleum consumption was an estimated 22,000 barrels per day in 2000. In 1997, due to high maintenance and operating costs, Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to shut down their joint operations at the petroleum refinery at Assab and import refined petroleum products. In 2001 Ethiopia signed an agreement to import petroleum products from Sudan. Ethiopia has few proven hydrocarbon reserves but is estimated to have considerable potential for oil and gas exploration. A $1.4 billion Ethiopian-US joint venture agreement was signed in 1999 to develop a gas field in the Ogaden Basin. The project would include a 603-km (375-mi) pipeline, a refinery, and facilities to produce synthetic fuels and petrochemical products.