Ethiopia presses ahead with waste-to-energy plant plans

Ethiopia is pressing ahead with its waste-to-energy project in Addis Ababa, according to media reports.

Around 97% of the “civil work of the project” is currently completed, UK-based Cambridge Industries Human Resource director Ermias Alemayehu told the Ethiopian Herald.

According to Allafrica.com, the total budget of the project is $120 million.

In a statement on the Cambridge Industries website, the organisation stated that the facility will process 1,400 tonnes of municipal waste per day and produce 185GWHr of electricity annually that will be exported to the Ethiopian national grid.

Once operational the facility is expected to power as many as 25% of the Ethiopia capital’s households.

The facility will eliminate more than 80% of the municipal waste delivered to it, according to Cambridge Industries, while at the same time maximising energy recovery in order to deliver much-needed renewable energy power to the surrounding city.

According to the World Bank, Ethiopia has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years with GDP growth averaging 10.9% between 2004 and 2014. From being the second poorest in the world in 2000 it is set to become a middle income country by 2025.

The rise in income will likely create a parallel increase in waste generation and increased urbanisation.