East Africa conferences: Ethiopia to launch 2nd national Electrification programme

EnergyNet Limited has announced that the co-located ‘Africa Energy Forum: Off the Grid’, and ‘Regional Energy Co-operation Summit’ meetings taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between 27 and 29 March will welcome the launch of the updated version of Ethiopia’s National Electrification Program (NEP 2.0), presented by the Government of Ethiopia.

According to a statement made available by the organisation, “This is the first updated of the NEP, first launched at the end of 2017 with a programmatic framework for achieving universal access by 2025 with targets and timetables, roles and responsibilities of sector institutions, and a sector-wide approach for the coordination of activities and harmonization of sector planning for electrification.”

In the NEP 2.0, the government provides an update on the progress achieved over the past year and provides a detailed framework for the integration of off-grid technologies with grid connectivity, leveraging on both public and private sector efforts for the achievement of 35 percent of off-grid access by 2025. Scale-up of off-grid technologies entail both off-grid solar and mini-grids, and the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE) with the Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) have already launched 12 mini-grid pilots across the country with potential for scale-up.

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Also, MoWIE will be joined by Ethiopian sector leaders and international experts to discuss the future of the sector reform program recently launched, including implementation of cost reflective tariff, further unbinding of generation and transmission, and performance improvement of sector institutions. These measures also aim to further attract private sector participation and investments in renewable energy.

Karmen Tornius, Programme Manager for the East Africa conferences in Addis, commented, “This will be the first time the market has heard these announcements, so it’s an exciting time for Ethiopia’s energy sector. The country presents many unique investment opportunities with its rapidly growing economy and vast population. Coupled with a more open landscape for private investment, the potential is huge.”

Senior Director for Energy and Extractives at the World Bank, Riccardo Puliti, said: “Addressing Ethiopia’s access deficit is vital to achieving the sustainable development goal towards global universal electrification by 2030.”

“The World Bank has been consistently supporting the government’s efforts towards integrating grid and off-grid electrification, strengthening the capacity of institutions, and broad-based sector reforms.”

Both meetings will feature a welcome address from His Excellency Seleshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Ethiopia alongside Energy Ministers and government officials from Djibouti, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya and international financiers, donor organizations, and power developers.

Active participation of the energy sector institutions including the MoWIE, EEU (Ethiopian Electric Utility), EEP (Ethiopian Electric Power) and the EEA (Ethiopian Energy Authority) is core to the event.