Electrical connection with Ethiopia, Sudan depends on study

CAIRO - 2 May 2017: There will be no electricity connection between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan until studies on the link are finalized, Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy spokesperson Dr. Ayman Hamza told Egypt Today.

Hamza stressed that electrical energy can only be exported to Ethiopia and Sudan after the completion of studies, pointing out that the only electrical connection is with Jordan, as well as the Egypt-Saudi Arabia electricity interconnection project and a cooperation agreement with Greece and Cyprus.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity claimed it had completed a feasibility study on the possibility of exporting electricity to Egypt, Sudan and Djibouti.

The Director of Public Relations and Communications at the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity in Addis Ababa, Bazuna Tulsa, told an Ethiopian news agency that Egypt has shown interest in purchasing electricity from Ethiopia and that the ministry in turn has completed studies in this regard.

Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity targets to increase its electricity connection with several neighboring countries to about 2,000MW in 2018, once it achieves a surplus in electricity production and fulfills all consumers’ needs, Daily News Egypt reported.

The capacity of the Egypt-Jordan electricity link has been increased to 550MW, especially after securing all local consumers’ needs.

The trial operation of the Egyptian-Saudi electricity link project is expected to start in 2019. The project aims to exchange electricity with a capacity of about 3,000MW at peak times, costing around $1.6 billion, with the Egyptian side’s share reaching up to $600 million.