Ethiopia:

Ethiopia Gears Up For A New Power Trip: Geothermal Energy (International Business Times)

Courtesy Reuters/Barry Malone

Tectonic fault lines are coming in handy for the East African country of Ethiopia. A new project is in the works to generate geothermal energy in the country, where only about 20 percent of the population has access to electricity.

Geothermal technology could generate thousands of megawatts of energy capacity for Ethiopia if all goes according to plan, which could go a long way toward helping the government bring power to the millions of homes -- mostly in rural areas -- that are currently off the grid.

It’s not that Ethiopia is particularly low on energy -- in fact, the country is an energy exporter thanks to its smart investments in hydroelectric power over the past several years. The real challenge involves expanding infrastructure so that the spoils of Ethiopia’s rapidly growing economy can reach the far-flung regions that were left behind while urban areas -- especially the capital, Addis Ababa -- have thrived.

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