ADDIS ABABA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia has more than doubled its power generation capacity in less than a decade, according to the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP).
The East African country has "significantly expanded" its installed power generation capacity, increasing from 4,462 to 9,752 megawatts over the past seven years, making it Africa's "leading renewable energy hub," said the EEP, as quoted by the state-run Ethiopian News Agency on Saturday.
National electricity access has also risen from 44 percent to about 54 percent in recent years, bolstered by extensive infrastructure development, according to EEP's Communication Director Moges Mekonnen.
Mekonnen said Ethiopia's power grid currently consists of more than 21,000 km of transmission lines, enabling electricity to reach broader areas.
Describing the milestone as "a major leap that reflects Ethiopia's fast-progressing energy development," he said the country continues to rely "almost entirely on renewable energy," with close to 100 percent of electricity generated from hydropower, wind, solar, and geothermal sources.
Data from the EEP showed that hydropower currently dominates the country's electric energy output, with wind contributing close to 5 percent and geothermal less than 1 percent.
Mekonnen said coordinated efforts are currently underway to scale up alternative renewable energy sources as part of the government's strategic push to build a more climate-resilient national energy system.
Major energy projects commissioned in recent years across the country, including the flagship Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, inaugurated in September last year as Africa's largest hydropower project, are said to be key drivers of the rapidly expanding energy production capacity.
