In 2023, Ethiopia’s electricity supply was almost entirely low-carbon, with about 18.3 TWh of clean electricity generated and close to no fossil-fuel electricity indicated by the supplied figures. Hydropower contributed 17.6 TWh, or roughly 96% of low-carbon generation. However, electricity consumption was just 142 kWh per person, compared with the global average of 3,794 kWh—less than 4% of that benchmark, or about one twenty-seventh as much. Such limited electricity availability can constrain healthcare, education, industrial production and access to modern household appliances, making a substantial expansion of clean electricity especially important.

Is Electricity Growing in Ethiopia?

Electricity consumption in Ethiopia is growing, although the latest increase is modest. In 2023, consumption reached a new record of 142 kWh per person, up from the previous record of 139 kWh in 2022—an increase of 3 kWh, or about 2%. Low-carbon electricity generation per person followed exactly the same pattern, rising from 139 to 142 kWh. These new records are encouraging, but the small gain underscores the need for much faster growth to expand electricity access and support electrification and economic development.

Suggestions

Ethiopia can build on its hydropower foundation by expanding solar and wind generation while considering nuclear power as a longer-term source of dependable clean electricity. Relevant examples include South Africa, with about 20 TWh of solar electricity and 12 TWh each from wind and nuclear, and Pakistan, with roughly 41 TWh of solar and 22 TWh of nuclear electricity. India’s much larger output—about 205 TWh from solar, 125 TWh from wind and 54 TWh from nuclear—also illustrates the potential of developing several low-carbon sources together. These regions offer useful models for technical cooperation, workforce development and project delivery, although their generation totals alone do not establish which policies succeeded. Alongside new generation, Ethiopia should strengthen transmission, distribution and electricity connections so that growing clean output reaches households and businesses.

History

Ethiopia’s recorded low-carbon electricity growth since 2001 has been driven overwhelmingly by hydropower. The listed increases in the early and mid-2000s were relatively small, at around 0.3–0.4 TWh each. Expansion accelerated in 2010–2013, when annual hydro gains ranged from about 1 to 1.4 TWh, followed by further gains throughout the decade, including a particularly strong 2.1 TWh increase in 2016 and 1.4 TWh in 2019. Wind added 0.3 TWh in both 2015 and 2019. In the early 2020s, hydro continued growing, with increases of 0.5 TWh in 2020, 1.9 TWh in 2022 and 0.9 TWh in 2023. Wind generation fell by 0.3 TWh in 2022, a disappointing setback that highlights the importance of sustaining growth across Ethiopia’s clean electricity sources.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade