How big is Ethiopia's transmission network?

OverWatts maps 9,988 km of transmission line in Ethiopia, across 876 segments, plus 20 substations. This is mapped length from OpenStreetMap, not an operator-reported total — where OSM is incomplete the figure is a floor, never a ceiling.

What voltage is Ethiopia's grid?

Most of the mapped network is high voltage (220–379 kV): 6,358 km of 9,988 km. The highest voltage tagged anywhere in the country is 500 kV.

How complete is the grid map for Ethiopia?

Partial — 8.8 km of mapped line per 1,000 km² of land, ahead of 31% of the 153 countries with any mapped grid. Coverage grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn the network, not how much network exists; large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone.

Who operates the grid in Ethiopia?

Ethiopian Electric Power, Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) are tagged as operators on mapped segments. Operator tags are present on 83% of Ethiopia's segments, so this ranks who is *recorded*, not market share.

What interconnectors connect Ethiopia to its neighbours?

6,180 MW of cross-border transfer capacity to Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, plus 360 MW planned. Capacities are from the Global Transmission Database (v1.0, 2023).

Ethiopia · electricity network

Ethiopia power grid

OverWatts maps 9,988 km of Ethiopia's electricity transmission network across 876 line segments and 20 substations, the 35th most-mapped grid of 153 countries. Its backbone is high voltage (220–379 kV), carrying 6,358 km — 64% of the mapped length, with the highest tagged voltage at 500 kV. That works out to 8.8 km per 1,000 km² of land — partial OpenStreetMap coverage, ahead of 31% of mapped countries. It is connected to 3 neighbouring grids by 6,180 MW of existing cross-border transfer capacity, with a further 360 MW planned.

Open the grid lens →Ethiopia profile →

9,988 km

Mapped transmission line

Substations

#35

of 153 mapped grids

6.2 GW

cross-border · 3 neighbours

500 kV

Highest voltage

OpenStreetMap coverage

Partial8.8 km / 1,000 km²ahead of 31% of 153 mapped countries

This grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn Ethiopia's network — not how much network exists. Large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone, and every kilometre here is mapped length, so the totals are a floor rather than an operator-reported figure. 4% of segments carry a real line name and 83% an operator tag.

Mapped line length by voltage

380–764 kV3,630 km 36%
220–379 kV6,358 km 64%

876 segments · a segment is credited to the country containing its midpoint, so a border-crossing line counts once, on one side.

Cross-border links from Ethiopia

Sudan4.0 GW
Kenya2.0 GW
Djibouti180 MW
Djibouti160 MW · planned
Eritrea100 MW · planned
South Sudan100 MW · planned

6.2 GW existing · 360 MW planned · capacities from the Global Transmission Database v0.1 (CC BY 4.0), existing as of 2023

On the interactive map

Open the interactive map →

Load against the network

9.6 GW

Operating generation

499

km of line per substation

8.8

km per 1,000 km²

Where there is room to connect a new load depends on published hosting capacity, which most operators release only as their own map. OverWatts does not yet ingest those feeds, so these are the density measures the open data supports — generation and mapped demand against mapped network — not a headroom figure.

Operators tagged on Ethiopia's network

Ethiopian Electric Power725 99%
Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP)5 1%

Segment counts from OSM `operator` tags, merged across spellings. Present on 83% of segments — this ranks who is recorded, not market share.

How Ethiopia compares · mapped grid by country

1. People's Republic of China624,300 km
33. Uzbekistan11,400 km
34. Libya11,200 km
35. Ethiopia9,988 km
36. United Kingdom9,612 km
37. Norway8,900 km

Frequently asked

How big is Ethiopia's transmission network?: OverWatts maps 9,988 km of transmission line in Ethiopia, across 876 segments, plus 20 substations. This is mapped length from OpenStreetMap, not an operator-reported total — where OSM is incomplete the figure is a floor, never a ceiling.
What voltage is Ethiopia's grid?: Most of the mapped network is high voltage (220–379 kV): 6,358 km of 9,988 km. The highest voltage tagged anywhere in the country is 500 kV.
How complete is the grid map for Ethiopia?: Partial — 8.8 km of mapped line per 1,000 km² of land, ahead of 31% of the 153 countries with any mapped grid. Coverage grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn the network, not how much network exists; large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone.
Who operates the grid in Ethiopia?: Ethiopian Electric Power, Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) are tagged as operators on mapped segments. Operator tags are present on 83% of Ethiopia's segments, so this ranks who is *recorded*, not market share.
What interconnectors connect Ethiopia to its neighbours?: 6,180 MW of cross-border transfer capacity to Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, plus 360 MW planned. Capacities are from the Global Transmission Database (v1.0, 2023).

Elsewhere in Ethiopia

Transmission lines Substations Power plants Data centres

Network geometry: OpenStreetMap (ODbL) © OpenStreetMap contributors, ingested and measured by OverWatts · derived 2026-07-26. Counts every mapped line of 220 kV and above; the map layer draws the ≥380 kV backbone only, so it shows less than is measured here.