Tulu Moye inks with Asian giants Mitsubishi and SEPCOIII for power generation

Tulu Moye Geothermal Operations PLC (TMGO) announces that it will start to supply the first electric power within 33 months for the state owner power generator and power station operators, Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP).

The company which sealed an updated power purchase (PPA) and implementation agreement (IA) with the Ethiopian public enterprise and relevant government offices in April 2020, has been engaged in various activities to generate the most effective electric energy from geothermal at Tulu Moye, which is about 120 km southeast of Addis Ababa, situated around Arisi Negel town of Oromia region.

As part of the project, for the past two years, the company had been in the process of selecting an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor, to which the firm has confirmed that it has sealed a deal with a Japanese company. TMGO inked agreements with the Japanese company Mitsubishi Corporation, which is well known for similar projects.

The Japanese firm will also work hand in hand with the Chinese giant, SEPCOIII Electric Power construction CO., Ltd as a consortium for the first phase of the project. TMGO stated that as per the contract signed on Wednesday, March 30, the contractors will kick off construction of the power plant in September 2022 in order to dispatch 50 MW of electricity to EEP in December 2024.

The company said that through the international bid process that was floated in the second quarter of 2019, a total of seven international EPC contractors were prequalified and responded to TMGO’ s request for proposal. Of the seven, the final selectee was the consortium of Mitsubishi Corporation and SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction CO., Ltd. Mitsubishi Corporation, a globally integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses together with its offices and subsidiaries in approximately 90 countries and regions worldwide, as well as a global network of around 1,700 group companies and SEPCOIII Electric Power construction CO., Ltd. a global engineering corporation which specializes in the construction of various types of power plants including CSP, PV, Energy storage and many more, bring an ocean of experience between them.

TMGO is a Project Company incorporated by the French investment fund Meridiam SAS and Icelandic Geothermal firm named Reykjavik Geothermal. The PPA with EEP now makes it one of the first independent power projects in Ethiopia. TMGO was established on December 17, 2017, created for the implementation of geothermal projects making it one of the first independent power projects in Ethiopia.

TMGO’S project brings the preeminent international geothermal scientists to Ethiopia, including from USA, Iceland and Kenya, is a great example of international and African regional cooperation at its best. TMGO is currently drilling its 4th geothermal well and is set to continue to work in the coming years with the technical and financial experts in Ethiopia to develop a leading global geothermal industry financed by the most important development financial institution.

The project is to generate and sell the power to the Ethiopian electric power for the next twenty-five years.

The drilling of the power generation at Tulu Moye will see the development of 150 MW geothermal power plant in two phases, with an anticipated total investment of USD 800 million, while the project carried out by the consortium may consume USD 100 million to generate 50MW.

“The development of geothermal resources either by the government or the private sector will add more power to electric supply in Ethiopia,” Takele Uma, Minister of Mines and Petroleum, said at the EPC signing ceremony.