The long-awaited Gilgel Gibe III hydroelectric power dam, with the production capacity of 1,800MW of electricity is scheduled to be inaugurated today after nine years of construction.
According to Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), Azeb Asnake (Eng.), the construction of the dam started nine years ago and it is built at an outlay of 1.5 billion Euros.
The construction was financed by the Ethiopian Government and Export-Import Bank of China (China EXIM Bank). Loan from the bank covered 60 percent of the cost while the Ethiopian Government covered the rest.
The plant was built by Salini Construction PLC which is also currently constructing the country’s flagship project – Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Gibe III plant has a height of 243 meters and has a total storage capacity of 15 billion cubic meters with a total installed capacity of 1,870 MW consists of 10 turbines each generating 187 megawatts.
The power plant raises the country’s installed generating capacity as high as 4,200 MW.
Chinese company says gas, oil exploration in Ogaden promising
China Poly Group Corporation on Thursday said the natural gas and oil exploration work it has been undertaking in Ogaden, Somali Regional State, is fruitful.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn has met with high officials of China Poly Group Corporation.
Poly Group Chairman Yu Baodong said on the occasion the exploration carried out thus far is promising.
The exploration work being carried out with a USD 3.7 billion outlay will further be consolidated, he added.
Besides the exploration work, the corporation has been transferring technology know-how to the manufacturing sector in Ethiopia, Baodong stated.
The chairman, who said the Ethiopian government has been supportive, added that the corporation is also working to provide electricity access for 28,000 households in rural Ethiopia.
The corporation has plans to engage extensively in agriculture and similar sectors that help the Ethiopian government meet its development goals, Baodong revealed.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn urged the corporation to further engage in other new areas. (ENA)
Jinka bag factory begins test run
Jinka Bag Factory, which was built at a cost of 60 million birr to manufacture sugar bags for the existing and new sugar factories, has begun a test run.
The Jiinka Bag Factory was built in Jinka town, located some 800km far from Addis Ababa in the Southern Regional State by the state owned company, Metals and Engineering Corporation (MetEC).
The factory was erected in Jinka because the construction of three big sugar factories are underway at the area, in addition to Omo Kuraz I, which will go operational in the first half of 2017, FBC said citing Lieutenant Teklay Alemayehu, manager of the factory.
According to a report by FBC, the factory could meet the demand of the sugar factory as soon as it completed a test run, without going operational with its full capacity, he said.
Jinka Bag Factory has the capacity to manufacture 30 million sugar bags per year, the report stated. (FBC)
SPLM-IO denies Machar under house arrest in SA
The SPLM-IO denied reports of alleged house arrest of former South Sudan’s vice president and rebel leader Riek Machar (PhD) in South Africa.
Kuong Dak, senior member of the SPLM-IO, told Radio Tamazuj this week that Riek Machar entered South African legally and that he is moving freely without any restriction.
He also indicated Machar will leave South African soon. “Riek Machar is not under house arrest, he went to South Africa for medical treatment, and now he is free, he can travel to Khartoum and Addis Ababa or elsewhere, “said Dak.
According to Reuters, in South Africa, a well-connected regional political consultant said Machar was being held “basically under house arrest” near Pretoria with his movements restricted and his phone calls monitored and controlled.
However Foreign Minister Spokesman Clayson Monyela denied that Machar is being detained, rather terming him as a ‘guest’ of Pretoria as South Africa tries to prevent the war from sliding into a potential genocide. (Radio Tamazuj)
