Adama II wind farm in Adama town, 98 kilometres east of Addis Ababa, has started to generate electricity on a trial basis.
Three wind turbines, each with an installed capacity of 1.5 megawatts (MW), have started to generate electricity on a trial basis, says Misikir Negash, the Head of Public Relations at Ethiopian Electric Power Corp. (EEPCO).
Construction work on the Adama II wind farm, which will have an eventual an installed generation capacity of 153 MW, has reached 81 per cent. The const of construction of the wind farm of 102 wind turbines is estimated at 345 million US dollars, of which 85 per cent is covered by the Chinese Exim Bank.
A 13-km long, 230-kilovolt (kv) power transmission line as well as a 78-km 33-kv power transmission line are being constructed.
In spite of its potential to generate 1.3 million megawatts of power from wind energy, the country has so far developed only 171 MW from the Adama I and Ashegoda wind farms.
Inaugurated in 2012, the Adama I Wind Farm with an installed generation capacity of 51 MW is the first wind farm in the country to generate electricity. The wind farm has a total of 34 wind turbines, each with a generating capacity of 1.5 MW.
Inaugurated in 2013, the Ashegoda wind farm is another wind power plant which generates 120 MW of power. This plant is currently the largest wind farm in Africa.
Under the government's five-year Growth and Transformation Plan, Ethiopia plans to generate 890 MW of power from wind. Upon becoming fully operational in April next year, the Adama II wind farm will improve the country's generation capacity to 324 MW.