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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Jul 25 2010 - 07:03:47 EDT
European Bank halts financing Ethiopia's controversial power project
Sunday 25 July 2010
<http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=35758>
July 24, 2010 (ADDIS ABABA) - As protests from various green campaigners
grew to stop the Gibe III hydroelectric dam project in Ethiopia, the
European Investment Bank (EIB) said it has dropped the funding environmental
and social impact studies for the project.
However, the European Bank said - it stopped funding the studies due to the
alternative financing and not because of the "results of these preliminary
studies".
A number of international environmental groups, among others, International
Rivers, Survival International, the Counter Balance Coalition, and the
Friends of Lake Turkana, have been calling upon the European Investment
Bank; the World Bank, and the African Development Bank to refrain granting
funds for the completion of the project.
The power project is being constructed along the country's Omo River, which
is one of the major tributaries supplying some 80pc of the water to Lake
Turkana of Kenya.
The groups have claimed that the construction of the Gibe III dam in
Southern Ethiopia has adverse environmental impact and seriously affects the
lives of communities that depend on Lake Turkana for existence and they
insist an immediate stop to the project.
Ethiopia however has dismissed claims saying that Gibe dam construction will
decrease the water flow to Lake Turkana; instead it argues that it may even
increase the water level due to less water evaporation effect and won't have
an effect on the nature of the local eco-system.
The Gibe III dam, now 35% completed, is costing about $1.7 billion and is
expected to generate 1,800 megawatts upon completion in 2013.
The Gibe III dam is one, among the many Hydro power projects the country is
building to alleviate power shortages caused from the country's rapid
economic growth.
As a secondary benefit, Ethiopia plans to export excess power to
neighbouring countries, including Kenya, Sudan and Djibouti. It will also
consider a 26-kilometre undersea transmission line for exporting electricity
to Yemen via Djibouti.
According to Ethiopian Electric and Power Corporation (EEPCo), the horn
nation will begin selling power to Sudan in September. Supplies to Sudan
will amount about 200 megawatts, while 150 megawatts may also be sold to
Djibouti should there be sufficient supplies.
JPEG - 14.7 kb
Gibe III dam site (International Rivers)
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