The Challenges of Renewable Energy Resource Development: The Case of Gilgel Gibe III Hydropower Project in Ethiopia Worede Fantaye Hailemariam Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Culture, Environment and Sustainability Centre for Development and the Environment University of Oslo Blindern, Norway January 2011 ii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................... VI ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ......................................................... IX LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, AND PHOTOGRAPHS ............................................... X 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 1.1 THE PROBLEMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...................................................................... 5 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................... 6 1.3 THE RATIONALE FOR CHOICE OF TOPIC AND CASE STUDY ................................................ 7 1.4 THE RESEARCH METHOD ...................................................................................................... 9 1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................................... 10 1.6 THESIS OUTLINE .................................................................................................................. 11 CH. 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 13 2.1 RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES ................................................................................... 13 2.1.1 Why Renewable Energy? ........................................................................................ 14 2.2 LARGE-SCALE HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT: ................................................................ 17 2.2.1 Hydropower: a controversial subject ...................................................................... 19 2.2.2 Hydropower energy policy and the challenges for deployment ............................. 23 2.2.3 Financing Hydropower projects .............................................................................. 27 2.2.4 Public participation in hydropower project planning ............................................. 28 2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (ESIA), OF HYDROPOWER PROJECTS .... 29 iii 2.3.1 Environmental Impact Assessment ......................................................................... 29 2.3.2 Social impact assessment: ....................................................................................... 32 2.3.3 Ethiopia‟s ESIA ...................................................................................................... 33 2.4 INSTITUTIONAL ROLES IN ETHIOPIA‟S HYDROPOWER ENERGY POLICY ........................ 34 CH. 3. HYDROELECTRIC ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA ....................... 38 3.1 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................... 38 3.1.1 Hydroelectric generation ......................................................................................... 39 3.2 THE POTENTIAL AND CURRENT STATUS OF HYDROPOWER SECTOR .............................. 42 3.3 THE STUDY AREA: TOPOGRAPHY, LOCATION AND CLIMATE ....................................... 44 SOURCE EEPCO 2009 .............................................................................................................. 49 3.4 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC FEATURES ......................................................... 50 CH. 4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 53 4.1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 53 4.2 THE RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................................... 53 4.3 THE CHOICE OF METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 54 4.4 SELECTION OF THE CASE STUDY AREA AND THE RESPONDENTS .................................... 55 4.5 SOURCES OF DATA .............................................................................................................. 58 4.5.1 Interviews ................................................................................................................ 58 4.5.2 Focus Group discussions: ....................................................................................... 60 4.5.3 Secondary data sources ........................................................................................... 61 4.6 ORGANIZING THE DATA FOR ANALYSIS ............................................................................ 61 4.7 LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES ....................................................................................... 62 iv CH. 5. EXPLORING GILGEL GIBE III HYDROPOWER PROJECT................... 65 5.1 PARTICIPATION DURING THE PROJECT PLANNING ........................................................... 65 5.2. INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES: EXAMINING EEPCO‟S CAPACITY ................................ 66 5.2.1 The issue of transparency: access to information ................................................... 67 5.2.2 EEPCO‟s Relations with pertinent institutions ....................................................... 69 5.2.3 The International Organizations ............................................................................. 72 5.2.4 The procedural issues as impediments.................................................................... 76 CH. 6. HYDROPOWER, ENVIRONMENT AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES ......... 80 6.1 GILGEL GIBE-III AND THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT ........................................................... 80 6.1.1. Forming buffer zone as mitigation measure: is it a sustainable solution? ............. 82 6.2 THE SOCIAL DIMENSION: GIBE III AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY ................................. 85 6.2.1 Disconnecting the Connected: Inundation and Relational Geography ................... 86 6.2.2 Gilel Gibe III and the Health issue ......................................................................... 88 6.2.3 Displacement and the issue of compensation ......................................................... 89 6.3 RESPONSE FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES ............................................................................. 97 6.4 THE PERCEPTION OF THE LOCAL PEOPLE ON GIBE III PROJECT ..................................... 98 CH. 7. CONCLUSION......................................................................................................... 102 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 109 APPENDIX I .......................................................................................................................... 118 v Acknowledgement It is pleasure to express my heartfelt gratitude to those who made this thesis possible. First of all I would like to thank my supervisor Harold Wilhite whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level of this thesis enabled me to develop a deeper understanding of the subject. The study reflects your thoughtful comments and unreserved contributions and it has been a great opportunity for me to conduct this study under your supervision. I express my sincere gratitude to the Center for Environment and the Development (SUM) for offering me the chance to study under the two years masters program. I would also like to thank Dr. Solomon Gebrechristos Tedla for sharing his research experiences and tireless encouragement throughout this thesis work. Your input and encouragement has always been incredible. I thank to Armando Lamadrid for his critical comments on the manuscript which otherwise would be difficult to complete this thesis without his unreserved suggestions. I earnestly thank the staff in the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO), experts at the Gilgel Gibe III project office, the Environmental Protection Authority, and Ministry of Water Resources for giving me necessary information about the Gibe III hydropower project. I thank the Gibe III project field experts for providing accommodation and facilities during my field-stay in the hot and humid Gibe River gorge and for the information they helped me access at the project site. I have found memories driving with you to the project site deep into the dam site to visit the 24 hour construction work underway (on 12-hour shifts). Special thanks to the farmers who willingly participated in the interview and group discussion without whom this thesis would have been incomplete. And finally to my wife Genny, you have always been with me in trying times. You took responsibility for our kids Kebron, Tsega and Hiyab when I was in the Gibe Gorge in Ethiopia for field-work, for which you have unending gratitude. vi Abstract Gilgel Gibe III hydropower project is one of the large-scale projects presently under construction in Ethiopia. The project has been surrounded by controversies and strong oppositions. This study sought to examine these controversial issues, the