Reykjavik Geothermal CEO, Mr Gudmundur Thoroddsson, was invited to speak at The Ethiopia Summit held by the Economist on “Driving continued growth” in Addis Ababa 28-29 October, 2015.
In a session on Energy in Focus: A realm of possibilities – Chaired by Ms Mary Harper Africa Editor of the BBC World Service – Mr Gudmundur Thoroddsson CEO of Reykjavik Geothermal and Mr Shilesh Muralidhara Senior Developer at the Black Rhino Group gave introduction lectures prior to discussion of experts on the opportunities and challenges that lie within Ethiopia’s energy sector. They reviewed the policy framework surrounding the sector, discussed the opportunities that existed within the renewables sector and evaluated the progress that has been made to date under the first GTP.
To quote Birhanu Fikade from The Reporter (Addis Ababa)…
“…Black Rhino and Reykjavik Geothermal have tabled their issues, demanding the government to address the energy sector. Shilesh Muralidhara, senior developer at the Black Rhino Group, made it public that the government has to address issues of payments and the risks in the exchange rate change for large projects; and that it should standardize agreements and the like. Gudmundur Thoroddsson, CEO of Reykjavik Geothermal, said that the bureaucratic red tape, financing and incentive packages for the geothermal sector are some of the issues the government needs to fix.”
