Ethiopia’s electricity firm, Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) is buying up to 500 MW of electric power generated from the Corbetti geothermal facility, located near Hawassa. The purchase is made from Corbetti Geothermal through a power purchase agreement (PPA).
The PPA was signed by Azeb Asnake, CEO of EEP and Edward Njorge, one of the investors from Berkeley Energy, in the Corbetti geothermal project along with Reykjavik Geothermal & Iceland Drilling. Berkeley Energy and Reykjavik Geothermal are Power Africa partners; an initiative launched by US President Barack Obama, "which seeks to increase electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa by 30,000 MW and 60 million connections," according to a release issued by the US embassy in Addis Ababa.
Other geothermal projects under the initiative include the Tulu Moye and Abaya.
EEP and Reykjavik Geothermal are also negotiating to sign a heads of terms agreement to develop an additional 500 MW in the Tulu Moye and Abaya areas.
The total investment on these three projects, when completed in eight to 10 years, could reach $4 billion the embassy release said. The release said that these projects “collectively by far are Africa’s largest independent geothermal power production investment to date. The Corbetti agreement by itself is expected to double the previous largest independent power producer agreement of any kind made in Africa."