Ethiopia secured over 35 million US dollars from power sales abroad, according to the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity (MoWIE).
The revenue was obtained from power sold to Djibouti and Sudan in the first half of this Ethiopian fiscal year (2017/18), Bizuneh Tolcha, public relations director at the ministry told Ethiopian News Agency (ENA).
According to him, power export to Djibouti earned the nation 18,510,000 US dollars, while the power sold to Sudan fetched 16, 545,000 US dollars.
Ethiopia and Kenya are also building a 1,045 Km power transmission line that will link grids of the two countries.
The 500KV line, which runs from Wolayita Sodo in south-central Ethiopia to Suswa in Kenya, will enable Kenya to import electricity from Ethiopia.
The director said that some 433 km of the line lie in Ethiopia and 612 km in Kenya.
Kenya had already agreed to buy 400 megawatts of electricity upon completion of installation of the power line, Bizuneh noted.
Ethiopia has also a plan to sell power to Tanzania, he said, adding Burundi and Rwanda also showed interest to import power from Ethiopia.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Dr. Engineer Sileshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity said Ethiopia is seeking to raise its power generation to 17,000 MW by 2020 from 4,300 MW now.
In a related development, the Ethiopian Electric Service (EES) said it working to provide electricity for 22,000 individuals and institutions that have been waiting for the service after making the necessary payment.
Gosaye Mengiste, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EES told Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) that they will get access to the service until the end of this Ethiopian fiscal year.
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