Denmark will increase our financial support to the Danish-Ethiopian strategic sector cooperation and partnership programme “Accelerating Wind Power Generation” in Ethiopia with 7 million DKK. The programme, which started in 2017, will now run until the end of 2020 contributing to the sustainable development of the Ethiopian energy sector with modern wind energy.
The Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Ulla Tørnæs, and the Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Dr. Seleshi Bekele Awulachew, have signed an agreement expanding the Danish-Ethiopian strategic sector cooperation and partnership on energy to the end of 2020. The programme “Accelerating Wind Power Generation in Ethiopia” supports the capacity building of the Ethiopian energy sector to a gradual transition to wind energy. Ethiopia is a P4G-partner and the Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy and the Ethiopian president is in Denmark to participate in the P4G-summit.
The Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Ulla Tørnæs says:
“I wish to send a special thanks to the entire Ethiopian delegation for visiting Denmark and attending the P4G summit. I am very encouraged by the agreement we have signed today, which will expand our cooperation on wind power until the end of 2020. This agreement can pave the way for increased private investment in the green transition in Ethiopia and supports the P4G agenda of partnerships with the private sector to reach UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030.”
The Danish support specifically provide wind measurements, and the expertise of the Danish Energy Agency concerning public procurement of wind-farms, and cost-efficient expansion of wind energy in Ethiopia.
The Danish system operator Energinet.dk will be working together with their Ethiopian counterparts on large-scale inclusion of wind energy in the Ethiopian energy system. Energinet.dk provides great experience from Denmark, where more than 40 pct. of Danish energy consumption came from wind energy in 2017. Corresponding to the Nordic electricity system, Ethiopia has great hydro energy resources that can be used to balance the Ethiopian electricity system.
The new agreement was signed after the Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy had payed visit to several wind-farms in Denmark during recent days, and the Minister was very happy with the expanding cooperation:
“I wish to thank the Government of Denmark for supporting the capacity building in Ethiopia through our strong bilateral energy cooperation. I am particularly satisfied that our partnership has today been extended to the end of 2020 and expanded to cover integration of diverse renewable energy, especially wind energy in this context. In this way, the partnership supports the Ethiopian strategy to develop a climate-resilient green growth economy based on 100 procent renewables.”
The development of the wind energy market in Ethiopia can affect the possibility of increased trade between the two countries, while the modern and efficient Danish wind-farm solution can attract International investors and banks based on the high-level technological efficiency and sustainability.
The implementation of the programme will be administered in cooperation between the Royal Danish Embassy in Addis Ababa, the Danish Energy Agency, Energinet.dk, the World Bank and relevant Ethiopian counterparts.
Accelerated Wind Power Generation in Ethiopia (AWPGE) supports the expansion of wind energy in Ethiopia as an important supplement to the country’s large hydropower reserves, which can cement the Ethiopian position as key exporter of sustainable energy to neighbouring countries such as Kenya and Sudan.
AWPGE mobilizes the private partner of the Ethiopian energy supply chain, and provides financial support for its necessary expansion for further growth and development in the country as well as in its regions.
With the use of Danish experience in the energy sector, the AWPGE assists a quick and cost-efficient process of large-scale wind power projects to benefit all Ethiopian electricity consumers and the Ethiopian economy as such.
With this new agreement, the AWPGE will run until the end of 2020 with a total budget of 35 million DKK.
In 2011, the Ethiopian government presented its ambitious ‘Climate Resilient Green Economy strategy (CRGE)’ to become a carbon neutral middle-income country by 2025, while also reducing the population’s vulnerability to climate change.
