AfrElec: Djibouti launches $122mn wind farm

Djibouti has inaugurated its first wind farm as the country looks to wean itself off expensive imported fossil fuels, 80% of which comes from neighbouring Ethiopia, and achieve a fully renewable energy powered grid by the year 2035.

The $122mn Red Sea Power wind farm project, centred in Ghoubet, involves the construction and operation of a 60-MW wind farm, and interconnection facilities comprising of a 220-MVA substation and 5-km overhead transmission line to connect to a substation of state-owned utility Electricite de Djibouti (EDD), Bloomberg reports.

Apart from providing 60 MW of clean energy, it will also boost the East African country’s capacity by 50%, provide power to 38% of the country’s 1.1mn people now without access, and remove 252,500 tons of carbon dioxide tons annually.

“Our aim is to be the first country in Africa to be 100% reliant on green energy by 2035,” Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of Great Horn Investment Holding (GHIH), said in a statement.

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