Ethiopia switches on Africas largest wind farm ift.tt/1is13PN Ethiopias green economy is booming, but most of the locals are not feeling the benefit. Last week, the country opened Africas biggest wind farm. The Ashegoda Wind Farm will generate 120 megawatts of electricity. It came online just days after Ethiopia announced a preliminary agreement to build a 1000-megawatt geothermal facility, the largest in Africa. Growing economies and more stable governments are making East Africa eager for more power – and it wants green power, says Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council. People see whats happening in China with the air pollution and they dont want coal-fired power stations. European and Chinese investment has helped the price of wind power fall below that of coal-generated electricity. Its becoming an economic option. Ethiopia may have access to a terawatt of wind power to add to the vast hydropower resources that now supply 90 per cent of its electricity. Add the geothermal potential of the East African Rift and the countrys goal of being carbon-neutral by 2025 starts to look plausible. The real challenge will be delivering that power to its people. According to the International Energy Agency, 77 per cent of Ethiopians do not have access to electricity. Most of its power will be sold to neighbouring countries. The government is now trying to connect more people to the grid. Sawyer says cash from the new power plants could help pay for this. If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to. Have your say Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in. Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article Subscribe now to comment. All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the Report link in that comment to report it to us. If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 19:53:09 +0000
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