President William Ruto has announced plans to sign a new power purchase agreement with Ethiopia to build on the country's growing energy partnership with its northern neighbour. Ruto announced on Tuesday, September 9, during the inauguration of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a landmark project tipped to change power generation in Ethiopia, that the government is considering a review of the current electricity purchase agreement. While describing the GERD as a "blueprint for similar projects across Africa", the President highlighted the importance of clean energy investments backed by multilateral partnerships, as he admitted he would look into more collaborations with Ethiopia for green energy. "I have had a conversation with the Prime Minister, and we will have an extended conversation on whatever reserve power is available from this dam," Ruto said. An image of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Photo Addis Standard "We are ready to sign a power purchase agreement so we can take some of the power from this dam." By early 2025, Ethiopia was supplying 265 megawatts of power to Kenya daily in a move aimed at supporting efforts to stabilise the national grid.
According to Ruto, the goal of the talks is to double the power imports from Ethiopia in the near future. Kenya's energy ties with Ethiopia have been cemented through a 25-year power purchase agreement, which started in 2022. Under the deal, power from Ethiopia is transmitted through a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) interconnector stretching 1,045 kilometers into the country.
Ethiopia has a converter station at Wolayta Sodo, while Kenya has one at Suswa.
These stations convert electricity from AC to DC for efficient transmission and back to AC for local distribution.
