Ethiopia's green energy leap: driving sustainable transitions for economic and environmental resilience

Kitessa Delessa Terefe, Abebe D. Beyene, Jonse Bane Boka and Uchenna Efobi

Chapter 13 in Handbook on Energy Transitions in Africa, 2026, pp 208-231 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines Ethiopia's ongoing efforts to transition towards green energy as a means to achieve both environmental and socioeconomic resilience. Despite the country's renewable energy potential, particularly in hydropower, solar, wind, and geothermal, biomass currently dominates its energy consumption, accounting for over 87 percent of energy consumption. This reliance on biomass, primarily in rural areas, where over 50 percent of the population lacks electricity access, contributes to significant socioeconomic and environmental challenges. The government has taken several key initiatives to ensure transition to clean energy and reduce its dependency on solid or traditional fuels. However, hydropower accounts for over 95 percent of the country's renewable energy production, indicating the single dominance of renewable energy supply. To bring inclusive sustainable energy transition and climate-resilient growth, the Ethiopian government has to work more on addressing the challenges such as lack of finance, limited private sector participation, lack of incentives, shortage of foreign currency, and weak coordination among the relevant stakeholders.

Keywords: Sustainable Energy Transitions; Renewable Energy; Sustainable Development; Enabling Environment; Key Energy Initiatives; Ethiopia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332236
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