Enel, the biggest private renewable energy player in Africa, said the consortium would invest around $120 million in the project.

The consortium includes Ethiopian infrastructure company Orchid Business Group, it said.

“Ethiopia has all the potential to become a key market for Enel’s strategy in Africa,” Enel Green Power boss Antonio Cammisecra said.

Ethiopia, Africa’s most populous black Nation after Nigeria  and has an annual economic growth rate of around 10% but still has one of the lowest electrification rates on the continent.

Enel, which controls Spain’s Endesa, is keen to expand in Africa where it already operates in Zambia, Morocco, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa.

REUTERS