May 22, 2020 marked a monumental shift for the geothermal sector of Ethiopia. The cabinet of Ethiopia, known as the Council of Ministers, came into agreement to send the Geothermal Proclamation Amendment to the Federal Parliamentary Assembly of Ethiopia for review. The original Geothermal Proclamation (Geothermal Proclamation No.981/2016) has exclusively governed Ethiopia’s geothermal sector since it was made official on September 16, 2016, whereas prior to this the geothermal sector of Ethiopia was governed by the Energy Proclamation No.810/2013 and the Mining Operation Proclamation No.678/2010. The Geothermal Proclamation Amendment entails a small change in the law that will propel the Corbetti and Tulu Moye projects to proceed into effectiveness.
We at Reykjavík Geothermal are pleased to announce that following a week of collaborations, the Federal Parliamentary Assembly of Ethiopia passed the Geothermal Proclamation Amendment, and on June 12, 2020 the amendment was published in the Federal Negarit Gazette, making it formally law. With the change in law, the Council of Ministers were quick to formally approve the updated PPA and IA of the Corbetti and Tulu Moye projects, which were updated and signed at the end of March 2020, and to approve of the projects moving forward. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, even took to social media platforms Facebook and Twitter to promote the projects and share the exciting news.
The passing of the Geothermal Proclamation Amendment sends the message that Ethiopia is open for business and is welcome to foreign investment. Reykjavík Geothermal is looking forward to see what is in store for Ethiopia’s energy future, and for the further development of the Corbetti and Tulu Moye Projects.
