Ethiopia is now home to the continent’s first waste-to-energy facility, President Mulatu Teshome launched the Reppie project last weekend. The facility is built on the Koshe landfill site located on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa, with the ability to take 1,400 tons of waste daily which figure comes up to about 80% of refuse generated by the capital. For over 40 years, Koshe served as the main rubbish tip in Ethiopia’s capital which has a rapidly rising population, currently at more than four million people. This will be converted to supply 30% household electricity needs whiles conforming to global standards on air emissions.
The building of the waste-to-power plant began in 2014, it was built by Cambridge Industries Limited (CIL), British & Island with Chinese partner contractors, it also involved Danish consultants Ramboll and was fully funded by the government with the overall cost of building the facility put at 2.6 billion birr ($118m).
The Reppie project is just one component of Ethiopia’s broader strategy to address pollution and embrace renewable energy across all sectors of the economy. We hope that Reppie will serve as a model for other countries in the region, and around the world, said Zerubabel Getachew, Ethiopia’s deputy permanent representative to the U.N. in Nairobi.
The East African nation’s $375 million Electrification Program which aims at powering its citizens by 2025 has been backed by World Bank which is one of the largest electrification programs in the continent by the international financier, All Africa reports.
Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome said at the ceremony that the country “has been investing extensively in hydropower, geothermal, wind energy and now biomass to boost the manufacturing sector with a supply of clean, renewable energy.”
At the inauguration of Reppi Waste-to-Energy Project worth almost 3 Billion Birr. Evident is the influence of China. Hope knowledge transfer is part of such a mega deal and not a one way street. @samza pic.twitter.com/wolsdGYEAJ
— Samuel Getachew (@GetachewSS) August 19, 2018
