A really interesting case study which fits in well with the focus section on renewable is the Ashegoda Wind Farm in Ethiopia. Opened in October 2013 by the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, the farm is actually owed by Vergnet SA (French) and BNP Paribas (French and British). 9% of the costs were covered by the Ethiopian government (Reuters, 2013).
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| Ashegoda Wind Farm Image Courtesy of Africa Energy, Cross Border Information |
Ashegoda is the largest wind farm in Africa consisting of 84 turbines and aims to produce 5-8% of the country's total energy needs (IEEE, 2013). Currently around 90% of the Ethiopia's energy comes from around 15 dams which generate hydroelectric power (IEA, Energy Statistics, 2013). The construction of the wind farm is part of the governments plan to diversify energy sources to help meet rising demand and provide a back up energy supply during drought periods. They aim to "become climate resilient and energy self sufficient by 2013" United Nations Development Programme - Ethiopia's Green Economy.
This seems pretty positive on the whole and the project was completed (almost) on schedule but there are few downsides. Firstly the impacts on farmers who have lost their crop land with little or no compensation, this has a knock on effect for food supply and local communities. Secondly the focus of the government seems to be about becoming a energy exporter. The government minister for International Affairs has signed agreements with seven different neighbouring countries to increase energy supply to them and Ethiopia has invested around $1.2bn in a pipeline to Kenya (All Africa, 2013). This is a little surprising since Ethiopia suffers regularly from blackouts and 77% of its citizens don't have access to electricity (NewScientist, 2013). In this case it seems that we can only hope that the 'trickle down' impact of greater wealth from energy production can help reduce poverty in the rest of the country.
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