The Ethiopian Parliament announced that it has granted final approval for the loan agreement signed by Ministry of Finance and Danske Bank for financing for the 100-MW Assela Wind Farm Project. The wind farm will be constructed by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.
The Assela Wind Farm will be located about 150 km south of the capital, at a cost of about 146 million euro and provide access to electricity for those without grid access through 29 wind turbines. the The Danish Embassy in Addis Ababa in a press release says the wind farm is expected to generate 330,000KWh annually and supply sustainable power to over three million people.
“I am pleased to see the agreement to develop the Assela I Wind Farm, which will diversify the Ethiopian renewable energy mix, has been passed by the Parliament. I am grateful to the Danish government’s generosity to provide grant and concessional finance. As a capacity development, Ethiopia will also learn and benefit immensely from Danish wind energy companies in terms of generation and operation of wind energy,” said Dr. Seleshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, MOWIE.
“We are very pleased to see this project develop, and that we are now moving towards the construction phase. Access to sustainable and reliable energy is crucial to Ethiopia’s continued development. Denmark is very happy to be able to support Ethiopia’s ambitions to develop a climate-resilient green economy,” said Ms. Karin Poulsen, Danish Ambassador to Ethiopia.