ACWA Power signs PPAs for 250 MW of solar projects in Ethiopia

Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power has signed 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) for two solar projects totalling 250 MW with Ethiopia's state-owned electricity producer Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP).

The price agreed in the PPAs is USD 0.02526 (EUR 0.02295)/kWh, the company said in a statement on Sunday.

The two projects, each with a capacity of 125 MW, were awarded to ACWA Power in the first round of the country's solar programme, organised by the Public-Private Partnerships Directorate General (PPP-DG). They mark the company's first foray into Ethiopia.

The first solar plant will be located in Dicheto, in the Afar region, and the other one in Gad, in the Somali region. Once operational, the two solar parks will produce enough electricity to power 750,000 homes and save 320,000 of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions a year, the director of the PPP DG, Tilahun Haile, said.

The Ethiopian government is looking to lift the country's electricity generation capacity to 17.3 GW by 2020 from 4.3 GW currently.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.909)

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