Ethiopia signs $800 mln geothermal power purchase agreement

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia has signed a power purchase agreement worth $800 million with the developers of a 150 MW geothermal plant, the prime minister said on Thursday.

The Horn-of-Africa nation, which is the second most populous on the continent, has the second biggest electricity deficit in Africa according to the World Bank, with about two thirds of the population lacking a connection to the grid.

“Geothermal enhances our energy security by providing constant output power to support industrialisation,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Twitter, adding that it was the first such power purchase agreement to reach such an advanced stage in the country.