Construction of the Koysha Hydro Electric Power Station, which is under construction on the Omo River in the South Western Ethiopia Region, has reached 61 percent completion.
A group of journalists from local media organizations visited the ongoing construction activities of the project.
Deputy head of the project Engineer Abayneh Getaneh said the dam, which is under construction on the Omo River, will have an installed capacity of 1,800 Megawatts.
He explained that the project will be equipped with 6 turbines, each generating 300 megawatts, and construction of the turbine house and ventilation is underway.
the Deputy head noted that the civil work of the project, which started in 2016, is now 52 percent complete, the dam reinforcement has reached 30 percent, the ventilation 13 percent, and the electromechanical work is under study.
Overall the project completion has reached 61 percent, Engineer Abayneh confirmed.
He added that the project has created jobs for five thousand people and is making a great contribution to the transfer of knowledge and technology.
When the Koysha Hydroelectric Project is completed, an artificial lake of 130 kilometers long and 200 square kilometers in area will be created, it was noted.
Koysha Hydroelectric Project Manager, Engineer Eugenio ZOPPIS said the project is contributing in terms of knowledge and technology transfer in addition to job opportunities.
The State Minister of Government Communication Services, Selamawit Kassa, on her part said Koisha is one of the mega projects that have been around for a long time and have great significance.
However, she added that currently the construction of the hydropower project is well underway due to the special attention given to it by the government as part of the on going reform measures.
Selamawit further stated that the project includes national parks which are endowed with potential natural resources vital for tourist destinations. According to her, the artificial lake impounded behind the dam will increase the flow of tourists.
On the other hand, the project will connect the local community with the infrastructure networks and make the local products, including vegetables and fruits, accessible to the market, she said.
According to the State Minister, the government of Ethiopia has given a great deal of attention to Koysha Hydroelectric Project. She also affirmed that works are well underway to complete the project within short period of time.
Ethiopia has some of the richest fresh water resources in Africa by volume, distributed across eight major basins with an exploitable hydropower potential of 45,000 MW.
To help address the energy deficit, the government has developed large hydropower projects along the country’s major river basins.
This includes the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) which once completed will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa and the recently-completed 1,870 MW Gibe III project.
Experts say that Ethiopia has the capacity and capabilities to become a great energy exporter within the region, which could benefit also the neighboring countries.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency