Interview:Chinese-fundedwindpowerprojectineasternEthiopiastartsproduction--official_GuangmingOnlineInterview:Chinese-fundedwindpowerprojectineasternEthiopiastartsproduction--officialADDISABABA,Feb.17(Xinhua)--TheChinese-fundedAyshaIIwindpowerprojectineasternEthiopiahasbegunpowergenerationafterits16windturbinesbecameoperational,anofficialofstate-ownedEthiopianElectricPower(EEP)hassaid."Outofthe32turbinesinstalledatAyshaIIwindpowerproject,16arefullyoperational,producing32GigaWattHours(GWh)ofelectricityfromSeptembertoDecember,"saidMogesMekonnen,communicationdirectoroftheEEP,inarecentinterviewwithXinhua.TheongoingAyshaIIwindpowerprojectwillfeature48turbineswithatotalgeneratingcapacityof120megawatts(MW).ItislocatedintheShenelledistrictoftheSittizoneofthecountry'sSomaliregion,neartheEthiopia-Djiboutiborder,some700kmeastoftheEthiopiancapitalofAddisAbaba.TheconstructionoftheAyshaIIwaslaunchedinJune2017aftertheExport-ImportBankofChina(ChinaEximBank)approvedthefinancingof85percentofthe257.3-million-U.S.-dollarproject.Thebalanceiscoveredbythenationalcoffer."Whenweevalsuatethegeneratingcapacityoftheprojectoverthelastnearlyfourmonths,theAyshawindfarmstandsatbetterproductioncapacitycomparedtopreviouslybuiltwindpowerplantsinEthiopia,"saidMekonnen.Accordingtothecommunicationdirector,China'sDongfangElectricCorporation,whichisundertakingtheAyshaIIwindpowerproject,hasintroducednewtechnologiesanddesignsthathaveneverbeenusedinthefirstthreewind-farmprojectsinthecountry."EachwindmillattheAyshaIIwindpowerprojecthasageneratingcapacityof2.5MWatmaximum,whichisatleast1MWhigherthanthegeneratingcapacityofeachwindmillatotherwindfarmsinthecountry,"saidMekonnen.Thecommunicationdirectorattributedthehigherpowergeneratingcapacityfromeachturbinetotheadvanceddesignandnewtechnologiesintroducedbythecontractorandthehigherwindspeedpersecondavailableattheprojectsite.Sinceitbecameoperational,theAyshawindfarmhasproduced32GWhandcontributedtothenationalgridusingthe16turbines,hesaid.AccordingtodataobtainedfromtheEEP,Ethiopiaiscurrentlygeneratingmorethan350MWofelectricityfromthreedifferentwindfarms.TheAdamaIWindFarmgenerates51MW;AdamaIIandAshegodawindfarmseachgenerate153megawatts.Chinesecontractors,HydroChinaCorporationandChinaGeo-EngineeringCorporationOverseastogetherbuilttheAdamaIandIIwindpowerplants.RegardingtheincreasingengagementofChinesecompaniesinEthiopia'srenewableenergydevelopment,MekonnensaidChinesecompaniesareuniqueandhelpfulinthattheypursueaspecificmodelofinvestmentcharacterizedbyfinancingdomesticprojectsandunfetteredtransferringoftechnicalknowledgetolocalexperts.■Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.