13-14 July 2012, Hangzhou, a technical review meeting for the Preliminary Design Report of the China-aided Aba Samuel Hydropower Project(HPP) in Ethiopia was held by the Department of Aid to Foreign Countries of Ministry of Commerce. Entrusted by Ministry of Commerce, Xinjiang Survey and Design Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower organized the experts concerned to review the said Report submitted by HYDROCHINA HUADONG. Mr. Duan Xiaoping, vice president of HYDROCHINA HUADONG, and related deputy chief engineers attended the meeting.

The participants listened to the presentation of the main design results of the Report and subsequently serious discussion and deliberation was conducted for the Report. In combination with the professional examination by the Xinjiang Institute for the Report and its professional exchange with HYDROCHINA HUADONG before the meeting, it was agreed by the meeting that the Report had basically fulfilled the in-depth requirements for the preliminary design stage and the Report was basically approved.

The Aba Samuel HPP in Ethiopia is a project under the eight measures for China-Africa Cooperation and is also the first China-aided project implemented on EPC contracting basis under Ministry of Commerce. Therefore, the implementation of the project has great significance. It is envisaged to utilize the existing dam and powerhouse to rebuild the existing water conveyance system and re-install the turbine-generator units with a total installed capacity of 6.6MW so that the power generation function of the power station can be restored. Entrusted by Ministry of Commerce, HYDROCHINA HUADONG carried out a feasibility inspection and a professional inspection for the project in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The successful convening of the meeting is one more important node for promotion of the project implementation following the said inspections. The Report’s smoothly passing the review created prerequisites for the follow-up work. In the next step, HYDROCHINA HUADONG will finish the revision and improvement of the Report in accordance with the review comments at the meeting and prepare the related documents to submit to the Ethiopian side for review as soon as possible.