ADDIS ABABA (Semonegna)–Reppie waste-to-energy (Reppie WtE) project, which is the first of its kind in Africa, was inaugurated on 19 August 2018.
President Mulatu Teshome, PhD, inaugurated the project which he described as a practical demonstration of the government’s strategy aimed at reducing pollution and realizing the huge potential of the country’s renewable energy. Quoting that Ethiopia has recently launched “energy for all” project which is being implemented over seven years period, he said that the Ethiopian government has planned to cover 35% of this “energy for all” project from renewable energy sources. The Reppie WtE project is to be viewed under the realm of this plan, the president said.
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The Reppie WtE facility, a 2.6 billion birr investment, commenced full construction in Addis Ababa in September 2014 and was originally expected to be completed in September 2017. Even though, the project was set to produce 50MW energy when it is completed, it was reported that this plan didn’t go accordingly so that, at present, Reppie WtE is able to produce only 25MW energy but, in the coming years, will be upgraded to reach its 50MW potential.
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Located southwest of Addis Ababa, commonly known as Koshe dump site, Reppie has been the only landfill in the capital half a century. The Addis Ababa metropolis of population nearly 5 million has been facing a significant waste management problem. As the city has expended, the landfill – which used to lie on the outskirts – has become part of the urban landscape, sprawling over an area the size of 36 football pitches and attracting hundreds of waste pickers who make their living from salvaged trash. In March 2017, a landslide on the dump site killed more than people, prompting the government to declare three days of mourning.
While the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), on be half or the government of Ethiopia, is the owner of the Reppie WtE facility, development, design and construction of the project was conducted by a consortium comprising Cambridge Industries Ltd and its partner China National Electric Engineering Co. Ltd. A Danish engineering firm, Ramboll, has been consulting EEP on the project.