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Situated close to Dukem town in the Oromia Regional
State, 20Km east of Addis Abeba, Yesu Sheet Metal
Factory, the largest sheet metal factory in
Ethiopia, has expressed great disappointment with
the power rationing that was recently introduced by
Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo). A
number of EEPCo’s clients have also expressed their
displeasure with this move as the power cuts have
negatively affected the operations of many
manufacturing companies.
Two weeks ago, EEPCo announced that it has begun
rationing electricity all over the country for the
month of April. Towns are expected to face power
outages in rotation for six days of the month,
depending on their respective partitioning category.
The latest power interruptions have been attributed
to the scarcity and complete absence of Belg
rain in some parts of the country. This, EEPCo
claims, has caused a lack of adequate water supply
to the dams of the corporation, intermittently
forcing the government cooperation to ration power.
EEPCo has been the sole provider of electricity in
the country since it was established about 40 years
ago. Throughout the years since then, the
corporation has been increasing its supply to the
nation through various power sector development
programmes, but it has still a long way to go in
satisfying even just half of the population’s demand
for power.
The cooperation has, however, through the Universal
Electricity Access Programme (UEAP) been able to
implement a steady rise in electricity coverage from
16pc in 2005 to 22pc in 2007. EEPCo has also set out
to increase the supply of electricity to half of the
country’s populace by 2010, with a plan to raise the
number of households with access to the utility to
6,000. It wants its generation capacity to grow to
2,218mw by the end of 2010.
EEPCo currently generates 814mw of energy from its
existing dams. It also has generators that generate
power during times of scarcity.
In compliance with the five year strategic Plan for
Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty
(PASDEP), the cooperation has attempted to embark on
the construction of new hydroelectric dams falling
in line with the UEAP. Included in the first phase
of the programme are dam construction projects in
Tekeze (300mw), Amertineshi (97mw), Beles (460mw)
and Gilgel Gibe II (420mw). None of these projects
are, however, progressing according to schedule.
EEPCo signed a contractual agreement with the
Chinese National Water Resource and Hydropower
Engineering Corporation (CNWRHEC) for the
construction of Tekeze Hydroelectric Dam. Although
the government has allocated 350 million dollars for
the project, having expected it to be operational in
2007, the dam has yet to generate electricity.
Meheret Debebe, general manager of EEPCo, is still
optimistic though. He believes that the dam will be
operational by June 2008, but CNWRHEC anticipates
finishing it by October of the same year.
Despite all the attempts at developing the electric
power capacity in the country, for the second time
in five years, power rationing has somehow become
the order of the day.
This lag directly affects companies like Yesu Sheet
Metal Factory. Although the plant has three
generators of its own, their collective power is
nowhere near what the factory needs for its
operations.
“We use our generators to keep inputs like Zinc and
Lid hot,” Misikir Alalaw, the production manager of
the company told Fortune.
Established in 2001 with a capital of 555 million
Br, Yesu requires 132Kv of electricity to
manufacture 60 pieces of sheet metal per minute; its
demand matches what the town of Dire Dawa, 501Km
east of Addis Abeba gets from the state utility
monopoly.
Lying on a 250,000sqm plot of land in Gelan Kebele,
the sheet metal plant imports coils, each weighing
120qts. It clenches these spiral steels in the
process of manufacturing sheet metals. Misikir
Alalaw has said that this process, which is only one
of the eight processes before the final product is
manufactured, requires the utilization of huge
voltages of power.
The only manufacturing plant with its own
sub-station, Yesu operates 24hrs round the clock in
order to be able to meet the demand for metal
sheets. In accordance with EEPCo’s new schedule,
however, the factory will not get power from 12pm to
4pm for seven days of the week, which is sure to
have a significant effect on its production
capacity.
The latest news from EEPCo has therefore sent a
tremor among the members of staff.
“We are left with no other option but to wait,” says
Misikir.
Also disgruntled with the EEPCo’s unpredictable
services is Metehara Sugar Factory. Situated 193Km
east of Addis Abeba, Metehara, it has 10,000ht of
sugar plantation and closes its plant every summer
for renovation. It has, however, received
recommendations from the power corporation this year
to begin renovations this month so as to reduce its
demand for power. The sugar factory has nonetheless
opted to use its three generators to try to reduce
the negative impact of power cuts on its operations
but it has not escaped from the imminent damage
caused by power scarcity as close to 15pc of its
plantation is watered by a pump powered by
electricity supply from EEPCo.
“The yield from the plantation will obviously drop,”
Lemma Gurmu, fatory logistics manager at Metehara,
told Fortune.
The Ethiopian Manufacturing Industries Association
has expressed concern with the power shortage which
is negatively impacting on the productivity of
various industries, as illustrated by the situation
of the two companies mentioned above.
“We will call a general assembly and discuss the
issue soon,” Mohammed Nur Sani, president of the
Association, told Fortune.
According to an economist, the current power
shortage will also definitely impact on the
country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“In the power interruptions experienced five years
ago, close to one per cent of the GDP had not been
produced,” says an economist. “This one percent may
even double this year.”
The power cuts in 2002/2003 were three days in a
week while currently, they occur six up to times
monthly.
Can there be any light at the end of the tunnel for
EEPCo? What could be the possible solutions? Some
critics say that the main problem is that the power
corporation is stuck with a single way of power
generation, which is hydropower.
The dams are, however, not able to supply enough of
this power because of the scarcity of water. “The
dams are filled with silt, and do not hold adequate
water,” an environmentalist has said.
A case in point is Koka. Constructed in 1960 on
180sqm plot of land, the dam now has a low water
holding capacity. Koka was the first large
hydropower plant to be built in the country.
According to a study conducted by Nor Consult in
1957, the capacity of Koka dam has been reduced from
1650 cubic metres in 1959 to 1186 cubic metres in
1998 because of siltation. The loss on total storage
capacity over the last 39 years is estimated to be
464 cubic metres, which is 28.1pc of the total
storage volume of the reservoir. Awash and Modjo are
the two main rivers that flow into the reservoir. A
study - Modjo Bad Land Watershed Management -
conducted by a UK based company (Helcrow) for the
Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) confirmed that
Modjo River transports huge amounts of silt into the
reservoir.
Michael Abebe, department head of Hydroelectric Dam
and Design at MoWR, says silt is a common feature in
any dam.
“But the quantity of silt and its increase should be
checked,” he told Fortune.
The silt in the dam and the scarcity of Belg rain
that experts mention are not the only reasons for
the shortage of power supply. An energy expert from
a private consultancy firm told Fortune that
EEPCo is not aggressively acting to utilize the
country’s geothermal and wind power potentials which
could help ease the power crisis.
Ethiopia is estimated to have geothermal potential
which generates 700mw of energy and the country
generates close to 120mw of power from the latter
annually.
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