Mining Firms Begin Building Coal Preparation Plants in Southwest Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA – ET Mines Development S.C. and East Africa Holding, two local mining firms, started building coal preparation plants in the Southwest Ethiopia Peoples Region.
The laying of the foundation stones on Saturday marked the official start of the projects in Tarcha area of Dawro Zone.
The two firms, with a combined registered capital of 1.5 billion birr, began the construction projects nearly two months after they secured their respective licenses to develop the coal reserve in newest region of Ethiopia.
Six other local mining firms received licenses to develop coal reserves in various parts of the country Ethiopia on the same day on January 14, 2022.
When they start manufacturing, Mining minister Takele said the plants will have a capacity to produce a total of 700,000 tons of washed coal per year.
“This production alone will significantly support our plan to substitute the coal imported to power heavy manufacturing plants,” the minister said after laying the foundation stone together with Deputy President of the region, Negash Wagesho.
Thursday’s launch will take the number of ongoing coal production plant construction projects in Ethiopia to three.
SUN Mining and Trading Plc, with 800 million birr registered capital, started the construction of another cola processing plant in Gurage zone of SNNP region in July 2021.
The plant, scheduled to be ready within months, is expected to produce 150, 000 tons of coal annually.
The mining companies are expected to assuage the national coal demand. Ethiopia currently spends up to 200 million dollars annually importing coal for use in cement production and energy generation.
