Ethiopia is expected to face a shortage of 200MW of electric power during the current fiscal year

Power Lines

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation plans to utilize different energy sources to curb the shortage.

Power shedding has become frequent in many areas during the last few months. The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation has denied that there is shortage of power being generated. A high level official from the corporation said the problem is directly related to the failure of old transformers and transmission and distribution lines. During an interview with Capital newspaper, the official mentioned load imbalance as the main problem. The load imbalance occurs during transmission and distribution of power. The report says the current power cuts are related to the stoppage of formal rehabilitation work. The source at the corporation said the state owned utility company had been working on replacing and performing long term repairs of electric transmission and distribution lines. But it has chosen to terminate the programme and focus on short term maintenance a decade ago. This, the source said, is the main reason for the current and frequent blackouts for long periods.   Many people in Addis Ababa have been complaining about the increased power blackouts in recent months. The frequency of power cuts has also risen with outages lasting many hours or even days.  The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation has said it has formed a special task force to resolve the blackout problem as soon as it occurs. Capital says the country is expected to face a shortage of 200MW of electric power during the current fiscal year. The corporation plans to utilize different energy sources like thermal energy and diesel powered generators to curb shortage. (Capital Newspaper)