DJIBOUTI PUTS ITS MONEY WHERE ITS MOUTH IS WITH PLANS FOR SELF SUFFICIENCY IN ENERGY

29th Jan 2014 – A big nod to clean energy AND self-sufficiency as Djibouti announces plans to invest $31 million in geothermal power plants in order to cut reliance on imported electricity from neighbouring Ethiopia.

The country, which is in the Horn of Africa has a population of less than a million people and peak demand of 70 megawatts of electricity, 65 percent of which comes through a line connecting the Djiboutian grid with that of Ethiopia, as stated by Djama Ali Guelleh, director of electricity.

We are told that the project, to be funded by a range of lenders such as the African Development Bank, will start in 2015, with the first phase producing 50 MW and output doubling after the second phase.

Minister of economy and finance Ilyass Dawaleh Moussa is quoted as saying “This funding will ensure the commercial viability of exploiting this resource and to significantly increase the supply of affordable energy for people and the sectors of our economy,”