• Ethiopia aims to commission first nuclear plant within ten years
• Nuclear seen as reducing reliance on climate-vulnerable hydropower
• Programme supported by Rosatom cooperation and IAEA assistance

Ethiopia plans to commission its first nuclear power plant in less than ten years, local media reported on Wednesday. The reports cited the Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission (ENEC), established in October 2025 to lead the development of civil nuclear energy in the country, including regulatory, institutional and safety frameworks.

NucNet reported that authorities acknowledged that a nuclear programme typically takes between 10 and 15 years to complete. However, they pointed to China as an example of shortened timelines. Authorities said Ethiopia was aiming for a faster schedule, without specifying at this stage the mechanisms, technologies or reactor types under consideration.

The project is part of an effort to address structural constraints in the national electricity system. In December 2025, ENEC head Sandokan Debebe said during the official launch of the nuclear programme that the country remains heavily dependent on hydropower. Hydropower accounts for about 96% of total electricity production, according to French Treasury data, leaving the system particularly exposed to climate risks.

Within this framework, authorities present the move to nuclear power as a way to strengthen energy security, support economic transformation and improve the long-term resilience of the energy system. They specifically highlighted the goal of stabilising baseload production independently of hydrological conditions.

A long-term energy strategy launched in 2012

Ethiopia has pursued a long-term energy strategy since 2012. The country launched an energy expansion plan aimed at increasing power generation capacity to 37 GW by 2037. This compares with around 9,761 MW in 2025 following the inauguration of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which has a capacity of 5,150 MW and is the largest in the country. At the time, the programme was valued at about $156 billion in investments over 25 years, drawing on public funding, bilateral partners and multilateral lenders.

In this context, Addis Ababa aims to add up to 1,200 MW of nuclear capacity by 2037 to complement an electricity mix dominated by hydropower. The stated objective is to diversify energy sources to meet national electricity needs while supporting regional electricity export projects to neighbouring countries.

The project is based on cooperation agreements on the peaceful use of nuclear energy signed in 2017 between Ethiopia and Russia’s Rosatom. These agreements establish a framework for technical and institutional cooperation. At this stage, they do not include the construction of a plant, but focus instead on programme preparation. In September 2025, a nuclear power plant project including feasibility studies, staff training and infrastructure development was also agreed with the company during an exploratory phase of the programme.

In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it would continue to support Ethiopia throughout its nuclear programme. This support includes technical assistance, capacity building and institutional support at each stage, in line with the “milestones” process governing the entry of new countries into civil nuclear energy.

Abdel-Latif Boureima