An Ethiopian official unveiled that his country is ready to build its second-largest dam after the “Renaissance Dam”, to generate 2160 megawatts of electric power, according to Al-Watan newspaper, an Egyptian privately-run newspaper.
The Ethiopian Minister of Irrigation Motoma Makasa said that all preparations have been completed to start work early next year as reported by Anadolu New Agency.
The Ethiopian official revealed that an agreement was signed “with the Italian company Salini Impregilo to build a dam on Omo river on the Ethiopian southern nations region on the Kenyan border at a cost of 2.2 billion Euros.”
Makasa said that “Salini Company is conducting its final arrangements to begin the preliminary work for the dam construction, after receiving 1.7 billion Euros from a financial institution in Italy, and the Ethiopian government will cover the rest of the payment.”
It is noteworthy that the new Koysha Dam, south of Ethiopia, will be the second largest hydro power dams in Ethiopia after the Renaissance dam. The 170-meter-high dam will be constructed on the “Omo” River and will have a lake of 6 thousand million cubic meters.
Ethiopia seeks in its second five-year plan (2015 – 2020) to increase its electricity production from 2,200 MW at the present time to more than 17 thousand MW.
