Ethiopia’s utility, EEP reveals pre-qualified bidders of 250 MW solar tender

Ethiopia’s state-owned power provider, Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) has announced the pre-qualified bidders of its 250 MW solar tender, which was launched last October.

The company said it has pre-selected 12 of the 28 developers that submitted a bid. Four of the selected bidders are single companies: Saudi energy giant, Acwa Power; Enel Green Power, the renewable energy arm of the Italian power utility, Enel; Norwegian solar developer, Scatec Solar; and Japanese industrial conglomerate, Mitsui.

The remaining eight bidders are all international consortia, formed by:

• France’s Total Eren Consortium and UAE-based Access Power;
• Saudi investment firm and Spanish renewable energy company Acciona;
• South Africa-based Mulilo and U.K. investor Actis;
• UAE-based investment company Alnoway, U.K. bank Aldwych, and Spain’s Alten;
• France’s energy giant EDF and UAE solar developer Masdar;
• Spain’s solar developer Fotowatio, U.K. IPP Globeleq, and Belayab Consortium;
• Korean power utility Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and KoSPCo;
• Moroccan holding Nareva and Indian industrial group Adani;

All of the developers, the EEP said in its statement, will now receive a formal invite to access the project’s data room. The tender’s second stage will involve a Request for Proposal from the pre-qualified bidders.

Through the tender, the Ethiopian utility intends to construct two PV power plants with a capacity of 125 MW each. Both projects are part of a 500 MW of solar plan, which will be developed via the country's Scaling Solar program.

At 86%, Ethiopia’s power demand is primarily covered by hydropower, while thermal power plants and renewables account for 6% and 8%, respectively. Currently, a total generation capacity of only 2.3 GW is serving around 95 million people, according to a recent report from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).