Sudan
will receive electricity from Ethiopia’s flagship dam via a transmission line
once Africa’s biggest hydropower plant is complete, the two countries’ leaders
said.
The
line will connect the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River
with Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn
said Tuesday.
Sudanese
President Umar al-Bashir, addressing reporters alongside the premier in the
Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, praised an existing road and telecommunications
networks connecting the neighboring nations. He also mentioned plans for the
countries to develop a “free economic zone,” without giving further details.
The
GERD, scheduled for completion next year, is being built at an estimated cost
of $6.4 billion, according to a June report by Bloomberg Energy Finance. It’s
designed to produce 6,000 megawatts of power, almost triple Ethiopia’s
current generating capacity, and would rank among the world’s 10 biggest
hydropower plants.
Al-Bashir
said an agreement to link a railway from Ethiopia to Port Sudan, which includes
a port dedicated to Ethiopia, is “awaiting funds.” Hailemariam said strategic
studies for the line have been conducted and Ethiopia has already started to
use the port for large consignments such as fertilizer.
Source: Bloomberg
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