ADDIS ABABA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government has announced that construction of the Koysha Hydropower Dam has reached 65 percent, with coordinated efforts underway to ensure the project's timely completion.

The dam, being built in southwestern Ethiopia at a cost of 2.5 billion euros (about 2.7 billion U.S. dollars), is expected to significantly boost the country's renewable energy output and contribute to its socio-economic development goals, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate quoted senior Ethiopian government officials as saying after they inspected the project on Monday.

Set to become one of Ethiopia's largest sources of hydroelectric power, the Koysha Hydropower Dam will have an installed capacity of 1,800 megawatts (MW) once completed, according to Ethiopian Electric Power.

The officials said that beyond addressing energy demands, the dam, featuring an artificial lake spanning 200 square kilometers, is expected to boost tourism and provide other socio-economic benefits to nearby communities.

As part of Ethiopia's broader energy development strategy, the Ministry of Water and Energy announced in November last year that the country's energy generation capacity had exceeded 6,000 MW, thanks to its abundant renewable energy resources.

Earlier this year, the Ethiopian government announced various initiatives to double the nation's electricity generation capacity to 13,000 MW by 2028.

Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation after Nigeria, with about 126.5 million people, has some of the continent's richest freshwater resources by volume, which are distributed across eight major river basins, with an exploitable hydropower potential of 45,000 MW, according to official data.

The Ethiopian government said that ongoing large-scale hydropower projects will help address the country's energy deficit, drive national development, and strengthen regional energy interconnections. Enditem

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