Saudi-Arabi based Desert Technologies has expressed interest in investing in Ethiopia’s solar power market. The firm expressed its desire to invest in Ethiopia during a recent meeting with Ethiopian officials from the Ministry of Water, Electricity, and Energy, Ethiopian Electric Power, and the Ethiopian Investment Commission.
The leadership of Desert Technologies had made a pre-investment excursion to Ethiopia last year to gauge whether the country was an attractive destination for investment. The recent meeting is a culmination of that process.
The discussion mainly focused on exploring ways to establish testing sites in Ethiopia and employ various pieces of equipment that generate power from solar energy.
After the meeting, Ethiopian officials announced that they have selected three project sites that are relevant for such an investment while Desert Technologies’ Managing Director, Khalid Sharbatly, affirmed that the firm will be determining the appropriate financing resources for the projects.
Desert Technologies is the second middle eastern solar power firm to undertake the process of investing in Ethiopia after Masdar Clean Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Finance in March for a 500MW per year solar power plant.
Ethiopia has recently been actively seeking and engaging with firms involved in the renewable energy sector in order to implement projects that are going to address the country’s struggles with electricity accessibility.