OREANDA-NEWS. May 16, 2013. China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co, Ltd (CET) of SGCC and the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) signed an agreement for the construction of 500kV power transmission line of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) at a ceremony held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The event was witnessed by Debretsion Gebremichael, Ethiopian minister of Communication & Information Technology, and SGCC EVP Du Zhigang. Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia Xie Xiaoyan, representatives of the Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, Minister of Finance, Minister of Water & Energy, and Minister of Internal Affairs of Ethiopia attended the ceremony.

The project is an auxiliary transmission project of the 6MW GERD to send power to capital Addis Ababa, which includes a 1,240km 500kV double-circuit AC line on the same tower, a 98km 400kV double-circuit AC line on the same tower, two 500kV substations. The contract also needs to expand 3 existing 400kV substations. The project is to be completed step by step from 2014 to 2016.

GERD is the core power source for eastern African grid. Its transmission project will become the backbone for the grids in Ethiopia and East Africa. Upon its completion, the project will optimize the country’s resource allocation and further facilitate the economic development, even in East Africa. It’s also the first time for SGCC to contract a national backbone grid project. All equipment and construction will be provided by Chinese enterprises, which can boost the export of Chinese products.

SGCC EVP Du Zhigang, Ethiopian Minister of Water and Energy Alemayehu Tegenu, and EEPCo CEO Mihret Debebe delivered their speeches at the ceremony. The Ethiopian side spoke highly of SGCC’s achievement and capability in technology, management, construction and operation. They hoped the two sides could together contribute to the cooperation of China and Ethiopia in the power industry and develop the economic growth of the country starting from this project. Speaking on behalf of SGCC, Du Zhigang, thanked the Ethiopian government for its trust. He said SGCC would work closely with its Ethiopian peers to build the project into a model of Sino-African power cooperation. It would become a bridge for the friendship between China and Ethiopia of win-win cooperation.

50 representatives from SGCC Africa Office, CET, EEPCo, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV and local mainstream media attended the ceremony.