Ethiopia and Sudan negotiating for energy trade balance

December 31, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopia and Sudan are in negotiations to balance the revenues earned from Ethiopia’s sale of electric power to Sudan with the equivalent expenditure of oil imported from Sudan to Ethiopia, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa.

After the completion of the Ethiopia-Sudan transmission line Ethiopia has, in a test run, started exporting 100 MW of hydro-power generated electricity to Sudan. Ethiopia imports most of its fuel from Sudan, spending over 50 percent of its total export earnings to meet nation’s fuel demand.

Sudan was already a large importer of Ethiopian agricultural products before the electricity deal. Ethiopia also supplies 80 percent of Djibouti’s electric power.

Ambassador Dina Mufti, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the power deals Ethiopia is making with neighbouring countries “will also have an important role in supporting the African Union’s efforts towards continental integration”.

The Horn of Africa nation is spending billions of US dollars constructing power plants including the dams on the Blue Nile, which have proved controversial with Egypt and to a lesser extent Sudan.

As part of the country’s five year Growth and Transformation Plan, Addis Ababa is aiming to boost its power production capacity from 3,000 MW - its current level - to 10,000 MW by 2015.