Ethiopia-Tanzania 100 MW Power Trial Ends With Trade Deal Still Unfinished

Ethiopia’s trial supply of 100 megawatts of electricity to Tanzania through Kenya has ended, but the countries have not yet completed a long-term commercial deal. Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) chief executive Ashebir Balcha told The Reporter in an account published on 19 September that purchase volumes, tariffs and operating terms are still being negotiated. The trial demonstrated a potential cross-border route; it did not convert that route into permanent, contracted trade.

The distinction matters across East Africa. Electricity can be generated in one country, carried through another and consumed in a third, but each part of the journey requires technical coordination and a commercial agreement. Ethiopia’s planned exports to Tanzania must be understood separately from its existing sales to Kenya. The latter’s allocation cannot simply be redirected south without changing contracts and ensuring that the networks can accommodate new flows.

What the trial established

EEP described a 100 MW Tanzania supply as a pilot in a 16 September statement about regional electricity cooperation. The later account from Ashebir says the trial period has concluded. Those statements can be read together: a test flow was under way, and its completion is now being reported. Neither source provides a signed long-term tariff agreement with Tanzania or an exact date when regular exports will begin.

A test is valuable because it checks how interconnected systems behave under real conditions. Operators can observe line loading, voltage, frequency, metering and communication between control rooms. It can also reveal limits that are less obvious in a project design. But moving power for a trial is not the same as committing to continuous delivery, especially when utilities must balance their own customers’ demand and existing contractual obligations.

For the Tanzania route, Kenya is more than a geographic passage. Its high-voltage network carries Ethiopian electricity onward, a practice known as wheeling. That requires rules about how the transit service is priced, how losses are accounted for, which operator is responsible during disruptions and what happens when capacity is scarce. Ashebir said Tanzania is expected to cover wheeling charges owed to Kenya, according to The Reporter. The final commercial framework remains under discussion.

Kenya’s existing purchase is a separate track

Ethiopia currently supplies Kenya with 200 MW under a bilateral arrangement, according to EEP. The utility says technical preparations could raise that amount to 400 MW from December 2026. That is an expectation subject to preparatory work, not an increase already delivered. A joint technical committee is working on system stability and readiness before additional electricity is dispatched.

Ashebir emphasised that the proposed Tanzania supply should not be treated as part of Kenya’s contracted allocation. That avoids a common but misleading reading of regional power announcements: that every announced megawatt can be added together and sold to whomever offers the best price. Physical transfer limits, timing of demand and legal commitments constrain what can be exported at any one moment.

Transmission bottlenecks remain relevant on both the Ethiopia-Kenya link and the Kenya-Tanzania interconnection, the EEP chief told The Reporter. The presence of cross-border wires is necessary, but it is not enough to guarantee that a desired flow can be scheduled safely every hour. Substations, protection systems, domestic network loads and operating reserves determine the usable capacity of a corridor.

Why regional trade is worth the effort

East African countries have different generation resources and demand patterns. Trading electricity can allow a country with available low-cost output to serve a neighbour facing a shortage, while giving the exporter revenue to sustain its own power system. Shared networks may also reduce reliance on expensive local backup generation. The potential benefit is strongest when contracts, dispatch rules and transparent settlement systems let utilities trust that power and payment will arrive as agreed.

The World Bank’s Regional Energy Transmission, Trade and Decarbonization programme for Eastern Africa, known as RETRADE-EA, is designed to support both physical interconnections and the institutions needed to operate a regional market. Its first phase includes support for an Uganda-Tanzania connection and for the Eastern Africa Power Pool’s market institutions. This broader work is not the same project as the Ethiopian trial, but it shows why infrastructure and commercial rules must advance together.

Kenya’s national energy compact also treats regional trade as part of its electricity strategy. It lists the existing 200 MW Ethiopia arrangement and identifies additional regional supply as a future opportunity. These planning documents are useful context, not confirmation that the new Tanzania contract is complete. The difference between an expected import and an executed transaction is central to the latest EEP update.

Questions the commercial deal must answer

First is volume. A trial at 100 MW does not specify whether a permanent purchase would be 100 MW at all times, a lower firm block with optional extra energy, or a different schedule altogether. A buyer needs to know how much it can rely on during evening peaks, seasonal changes and outages. The seller needs to know how much it must reserve for its own system and for other contracted customers.

Second is price. The tariff must cover generation, transmission and transit costs while remaining attractive to the buyer compared with other supply options. Currency risk and payment security also matter over a multi-year agreement. The public reporting does not disclose a final Tanzania tariff, so claims that the proposed imports will definitely lower bills would be premature.

Third is operational responsibility. Interconnected utilities need procedures for scheduling, emergency curtailment, metering disputes and restoration after faults. These details can seem minor beside a headline megawatt figure, but they determine whether a power purchase agreement works on difficult days, not just in a ceremonial signing photograph. The present negotiations reportedly include technical protocols as well as money.

What to watch next

EEP has not given a deadline for the Tanzania talks to conclude. The clearest milestones will be a final agreement stating contracted volumes and tariffs, confirmed wheeling terms with Kenya, evidence that any required grid upgrades or operating changes are ready, and actual regular deliveries recorded by the utilities. Separate reporting should track whether the planned increase in Ethiopia’s Kenya exports begins as expected.

The completed trial is a practical step toward a more integrated East African electricity market. It demonstrates that the three-country route can be tested, while also exposing the hard part of regional trade: aligning engineering limits with contracts that satisfy exporter, transit operator and buyer. The next achievement will not be another pilot headline. It will be a reliable commercial arrangement that all three systems can operate and account for over time.