Sun & Wind
After the coastal states Egypt and Morocco, Ethiopia is Africa’s third largest wind power user. Neighbouring Kenya is also preparing to harness more of the wind.
Walking through the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, one notices diesel generators rattling outside of many shops. A photographer has to send customers to his competitor because he has not protected himself against power cuts like many other shop owners. There is no system for back-up power at his shop.
The state-owned Ethiopian energy utility EEPCo is located just a few steps away. Unlike Kenya’s largest majority state-owned energy utility KenGen, EEPCo manages the whole country’s energy supply and therefore operates all the wind farms. That includes the 34 wind turbines of Adama 1, which have been rotating at a height of around 1,800 m three kilometres from Adama since 2012 with a total capacity of 51 MW.
