EEP Signs $16.4 Equipment Deal with Chinese Firm

Apr 22 , 2022

Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) has inked a 16.4 million dollar deal for the supply of electrical equipment from TBEA Co Ltd, a Chinese firm. The deal is for the supply of gas-insulated switchgears, comprising circuit breakers, disconnectors, and earthing device enclosed and stored in metal containers using a high-insulation-performance gas. EEP officials say they plan to replace old switchgears at distribution centres and substations over the coming three years. The 64-year old state-owned enterprise has gone through major corporate restricting since its establishment in the mid-1950s. Christened as the Ethiopian Electric Light & Power Authority (EELPA), it was a regulatory body as a sole generator and distributor of electric power for four decades. Its corporate identity was divorced from its regulatory role in the mid-1990s. The company's business bundling the generation of electric power and retailing to households came to an end in 2013, when Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's administration decided to separate EEP from the Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU).