Construction of the new National Load Dispatch Center

The existing LDC system cannot deal with the challenges that the sector has to face in the coming years in terms of sizing, performance, functionality and maintainability. Commissioned eight years ago, it was in fact conceived 13 years ago based on a power system of a small size (which has increased more than fivefold in generation capacity since then).As a result, newly built power plants in Ethiopia (dams, windfarms…) cannot be linked to the current dispatch center and cannot be controlled as smoothly as if theywere fully integrated. The need of a new LDC is not questionable at this stage, as it will improve the automation level in operation for enhancing reliability, stability, security and quality of the power system.This National Load Dispatch Center Project (NLDCP) is part of the National Grid Infrastructure Development Project (NGIDP) which also comprises the upgrading ofsubstations and the improvement of the transmission network.