The sharing of energy could help the continent as it transitions to renewable sources (Image: Getty)
and are two of the leaders in Africa’s embracement of renewable energy – and a new agreement between the two could lay the foundations for the way electricity flows across the continent.
has embraced renewable energy in recent decades and produces all the power for its national grid from renewable sources, with the (GERD) sitting in the river Nile standing as the largest hydropower plant in Africa.
Similarly, produces 90% of its electricity from renewable sources and the country boasts one of the largest geothermal facilities in the world, in the Olkaria Area.
But relying on these sources for future energy supply leaves the countries with a single source of failure. Renewable energy is difficult to store and a continent prone to droughts leaves itself at risk if relying on hydropower to produce electricity.
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The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam produces 60% of Ethiopia’s electricity (Image: Getty)
But the two nations have agreed on a historic electricity sharing agreement, known as the Ethiopia-Kenya Electricity Highway which aims to offset the risk of each country losing access to power.
Under the agreement, when one country needs more electricity for its national grid and the other has a surplus, electricity automatically flows across the border, via 650 miles of transmission lines ensuring that a great chance of supply being able to meet demand.
The agreement required significant infrastructure to be built to link the two nations and opened last year following a £1 billion investment and ten years of work.
Darlain Edeme, African energy analyst for the International Energy Agency (IEA), believes that energy sharing is crucial to the continent’s adoption of clean energy and thinks that it can “improve quality, reliability, security, and have benefits on prices,” in a continent where demand for electricity is rapidly increasing.
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The electric highway allows surplus energy to travel across borders when it is needed (Image: Getty)
has seen electricity use quadruple since the turn of the century whilst Kenya has seen an increase of three quarters in the same time period.
Daniel Schroth, director of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Department at the African Development Bank (AfDB), which contributed over $300 million (£240m) of funding believes that the Ethiopia-Kenya link is vital for both countries’ growth and future prosperity.
He said: “You see population growth somewhat outstripping the growth of new connections, there’s a big push on addressing this energy access deficit more decisively.”
has historically been prone to blackouts and it is hoped that the transfer of surplus energy between he two will lessen the occurrences in future.
In September, Reuters reported two “major blackouts” in in a single week, with Energy Minister Opiyo Wandayi blaming “sub-optimal investment in infrastructure.”