Ethiopia: Japan declines Ethiopian dam project

Although it was initially interested, the Japanese Kajima finally did not reply to the call for tenders issued by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corp. (EEPCo) for the construction of a hydroelectric dam for a 96 MW power station on the river Neshi, in the East Wollega region of Oromia Regional State. Only 3 firms submitted bids: the Turkish Enka, the Italian Salini and the Chinese Gezhouba Water and Power Group. Salini is already very active in Ethiopia. The group built, with funding from the European Investment Bank and the Italian government, the Gilgel Gibe Dam (184 MW) and is currently building the second phase of the project, which will have a capacity of 428 MW. This summer, Salini also penned an agreement with EEPCo to build a 46 MW hydropower dam at Beles in the Amhara region in the northern part of the country.