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Ethiopia denies rebels chased oil, gas firms away

* Petronas has not pulled out of Ethiopia, minister says

* Govt negotiating deals with three more oil and gas firms

By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Rebel claims that Malaysia's Petronas has stopped oil and gas exploration in Ethiopia are lies and three more firms are in negotiations to start exploration in the country, its mines minister said on Thursday.

Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) separatists and local media said state-owned Petronas had pulled out of the Horn of Africa nation after a gas field it was exploring was overrun by the militants in May.

"The rebels took no gas field," Mines and Energy Minister, Alemayehu Tegenu, told Reuters in an interview. "That didn't happen. Petronas have not ceased operations. They have just suspended work to evaluate their portfolio."

Petronas have yet to comment on the reports.

The ONLF is fighting for independence for the mainly ethnic-Somali Ogaden and has warned international oil and gas companies to stay away or face attack.

Firms including Petronas and the Vancouver-based Africa Oil Corporation are exploring the Ogaden for potential oil and gas reserves. Twelve foreign mineral firms are exploring Ethiopia for deposits.

Apart from a small discovery of natural gas, which Petronas has signed a $1.9 million deal to extract, Ethiopia has not uncovered significant oil or gas deposits.

The government says the Ogaden basin may contain gas reserves of 4 trillion cubic feet and points to oil-producing neighbours such as Sudan and Yemen as evidence there could be major oil deposits under Ethiopia's vast deserts.

Alemayehu said Ethiopia was secure and the government was negotiating new exploration licenses with three foreign firms. He did not name them.

'OUR MILITARY IS IN CONTROL'

"We have no complaints from companies exploring here about our security," the minister said. "We have secured them. Our military is in control."

Alemayehu also said peace negotiations with one faction of the ONLF were at an advanced stage. ONLF spokesmen have denied a deal is imminent.

The Ethiopian government has reported some skirmishes with the rebels in the past six months, but regular accusations from both sides are hard to verify. Journalists and aid groups cannot move in the area without government escorts.

Ethiopian forces launched an assault against the ONLF -- who have been fighting for more than 20 years -- after a 2007 attack on an oil exploration field owned by a subsidiary of China's Sinopec Corp, Asia's biggest refiner.

"Since that attack, we have secured the area," Alemayehu said.

A British geologist was shot dead in the Ogaden last July while working for IMC Geophysics International, subcontracted to Petronas. The ONLF denied involvement and the government said 'bandits' were responsible.

Analysts say the rebels are incapable of ousting the government but can hamper development and weaken security forces in the Ogaden with hit-and-run attacks. (Editing by George Obulutsa and James Jukwey)

Ethiopia rejects dam criticism, targets 10,000 MW

By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia on Thursday rejected criticism of its massive hydropower dam projects and vowed to push ahead with plans to boost its power generating ability from 2,000 MW to 10,000 MW within five years.

The Horn of Africa nation's ambitious dam building programme has drawn fire from human rights groups as well as from Egypt and other Nile River countries.

"We have a plan to reach 10,000 MW within the coming five years," mines and energy minister, Alemayehu Tegenu, told Reuters in an interview.

"Most of the energy we plan to generate will come from hydropower."

Ethiopia is overwhelmingly reliant on dams for its energy needs and has opened three over the last year, bringing the total number in the country to seven.

Another two are being built, including the huge Gibe III -- a project that foreign charities say could leave more than 200,000 people reliant on food aid.

Rights groups, spearheaded by Survival International, have started an online campaign against the dam, which would generate 2,000 MW, and are lobbying international lenders not to contribute to its 1.4 billion euro cost.

"These organisations do not want Ethiopia to develop," Alemayehu said.

"Criticising countries like Ethiopia is their source of income. They have no reason to attack our dams. We have environmental and social plans in place."

The European Investment Bank (EIB) said last month that it had decided not to help fund the project but did not say why it had made that decision.

Alemayehu said it was possible the EIB had been pressured by rights groups.

"But I don't know their reason," he said. "It's not a big problem for us. We have other options. And the funding at the moment is coming from our government."

"NO NILE WAR"

Ethiopia's hydropower plans are also closely watched by Egypt and Sudan who fear more dams on Ethiopia's stretch of the Nile could leave them thirsty.

After more than a decade of talks driven by anger over the perceived injustice of a previous Nile water treaty signed in 1929, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya signed a new deal in May without their northern neighbours.

The five signatories have given the other Nile Basin countries -- Egypt, Sudan, Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo -- one year to join the pact but the countries have been split by behind-the-scenes rows since the signing.

Under the 1929 deal, Egypt, which faces water shortages by 2017, is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic metres a year, the lion's share of the Nile's flow of 84 billion cubic metres. Some 85 percent of the Nile's waters originate in Ethiopia.

The nine countries are due to meet again in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in November.

"What we will construct on the river will never cause any problems for the Egyptians," Alemayehu said. "But the Egyptians always stand against Ethiopian development. They need to understand better what we are planning."

Alemayehu, however, ruled out the possibility that war could erupt over the Nile.

"That will never happen," he said. "Never."

Ethiopia plans to export power to neighbouring Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya as soon as it meets its own growing energy needs, Alemayehu said.

Ethiopia rationed power for five months this year with outages every second day, which closed factories, hampered exports and fuelled a currency shortage.

"We should have no need to ration power in 2011 with our new dams," Alemayehu said. "We are now building interconnectivity infrastructure with Sudan and Djibouti and that should be finished within six months."

Power demand in Africa will rise by 150,000 MW between 2007 and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

Ethiopia finalizes construction of electricity transmission lines to its neighbors


APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Ethiopia announced on Tuesday the finalization of the construction of electricity transmission lines that will help the country to supply electricity to its neighbors.

The Ethiopian Electricity Power Corporation (EEPCo) said that the interconnection line joining Ethiopia and Djibouti is nearing completion while the lines to Kenya and Sudan are being carried out as scheduled.

Ethiopia is expected to begin supplying power to Kenya, Sudan and Djibouti as from next year.

The electricity transmission lines are being set up with a multi-million US dollars support, obtained from the World Bank.

The neighbouring countries have already signed agreements to import electricity from Ethiopia.

Currently, Ethiopia is undertaking billions of dollars worth of investment on hydro-electric projects, which will help the country to become the leader in power generation in the sub-region.

According to the corporation, there is a plan to increase the country’s power capacity to 10,000 megawatt in the next five to ten years.

Currently, Ethiopia is generating 2,000 megawatt of power for its local consumption.

Ethiopia to start exporting Power to Sudan

Ethiopia said, preparations are underway to start exporting electric power to Sudan after rain falls boos hydroelectric power dams in the country, Bloomberg reports. The plan is to export up to 200 Megawatts to Sudan and up to 150 megawatts may be exported to Djibouti.

Gilegl Gibe II is also expected to resume operation after it suffered a tunnel collapse shortly after it was inaugurated earlier this year. Gibe II has a generating capacity of 420 MW. Tana Beles, the largest hydropower in the country and Tekeze is also expected to be at full capacity following recent rains. The three plants produce a combined 1,180 megawatts of power.

Read original story from Bloomberg News.

World Bank lends Ethiopia $180mn for energy infrastructure


APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $180 million to support energy infrastructure, Ethiopian Television reports here Friday.

This loan aims to support Ethiopia’s efforts to provide adequate and cost effective electricity supply and rapidly scale up electricity coverage and access for all citizens.

Ethiopia is currently undertaking billions of dollars worth of investments on hydro-electric plants, which will help the country to also supply power to neighbouring countries like Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan.

Ethiopia is currently generating around 2,000 megawatt of power for its local consumption.

“The additional financing aims at scaling-up certain components of the Energy Access Project which seeks to expand access to electricity and improve the quality and adequacy of power supply ; improve energy end-use efficiency, developing renewable energy resources ; and strengthen institutional capacity,” the World Bank said.