Troy Fitrell
U.S. Embassy Charge d’Affaires
at Tulu Moye Grant Signing Ceremony
August 27, 2018, 2018
(As prepared for delivery)
Good Afternoon,
Thank you to the State Minister of Electricity, Dr. Frehiwot Woldehanna for joining us and for the strong partnership we enjoy with your ministry on power issues.
I would also like to express our appreciation to Darrel Boyd for his leadership in advancing this important clean energy project, and hosting us.
As the United States continues to invest in Ethiopia’s capacity as an economic partner, increasing power generation is a critical step toward unlocking Ethiopia’s economic potential and creating opportunities for stronger commercial ties between our countries.
So it’s great to be here today to sign this grant on behalf of the United States Trade and Development Agency, USTDA as the next step in supporting development of the Tulu Moye geothermal energy project.
This grant will support the development of the first 50 megawatts of the Tulu Moye project. This project is one of the first undertaken by an Independent Power Producers (IPP) and represents an important milestone in Ethiopia’s efforts to harness the capacity and resources of the private sector to meet the energy needs of the Ethiopian people.
USTDA is partnering with Tulu Moye Geothermal Operations, an Ethiopia-based company, on this important project. Through these types of partnerships we also hope to share best practices and build the capacity of the Ethiopian private sector.
Along those lines, Tulu Moye Geothermal Operations selected a U.S. company, Delphos International to carry out the study. In bringing together a U.S. firm and an Ethiopian company, this program is an example of how private-sector collaboration between our countries can achieve shared goals for mutual benefits.
Beyond increasing power generation, we also know this effort will support the ability of key actors in Ethiopia’s power sector to identify strong, reliable partners in the private sector who can bring expertise, quality, and value to energy projects and infrastructure investments.
The United States has a long history of working to support Ethiopia’s economic development. And as Ethiopia strives to develop light-manufacturing and other industries, few things will be as important to the country’s success as having sufficient, reliable, and affordable power.
This goal goes to the heart of a number of U.S. initiatives focused on increasing economic opportunity across Africa, including the Electrify Africa Act, Doing Business in Africa, and Power Africa, where we recently signed an agreement to extend Power Africa’s activities in Ethiopia through the year 2023.
I would like to thank all of you for joining us today to celebrate the beginning of this new partnership, that represents another way that the United States is investing in Ethiopia’s capacity to build a, in this case literally, brighter future.
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