Ethiopia has taken a fresh step toward developing a civil nuclear energy programme with Russia, as Addis Ababa seeks to diversify an electricity system that remains overwhelmingly dependent on hydropower.
The Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission said a new roadmap had been agreed with Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, setting out the next phase of cooperation between the two sides.
The document, signed last week, outlines technical, institutional and operational steps for future collaboration, including work linked to potential electricity generation projects.
The move marks the latest stage in a partnership that has steadily advanced over the past year, as Ethiopia explores alternatives to hydropower in a country where energy demand is rising but generation remains vulnerable to climate variability.
Hydropower accounted for 96.5 percent of Ethiopia’s electricity production in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), making the Horn of Africa nation one of the most hydro-dependent power systems on the continent.
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That reliance has helped Ethiopia expand access to relatively low-cost electricity over the years, but it also leaves the country exposed to drought, rainfall fluctuations and seasonal generation constraints.
Officials have increasingly framed nuclear energy as a long-term option to support energy security, industrialisation and economic growth.
The new roadmap is expected to help define the technical and economic foundations of the cooperation, while also paving the way for future institutional agreements and capacity building.
Ethiopian authorities have previously indicated that any civil nuclear programme would require substantial groundwork, including regulatory development, infrastructure planning and the training of local specialists.
The latest agreement builds on a broader nuclear cooperation deal signed during World Atomic Week 2025 in Moscow in September last year.
That earlier accord signalled Ethiopia’s intention to move beyond exploratory talks and begin laying the institutional basis for a domestic nuclear sector, even though any actual power generation project would likely take years to materialise.
For Ethiopia, the attraction of nuclear energy lies not only in diversifying away from hydropower, but also in building a more stable electricity base to support manufacturing and urban growth.
The country has invested heavily in power infrastructure over the past decade and has positioned itself as a regional electricity exporter, with large hydro projects such as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam central to that strategy.
But analysts say relying too heavily on one source of generation creates structural risks, particularly as climate pressures intensify across East Africa.
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Rosatom, for its part, has expanded aggressively across Africa as Russia seeks to strengthen its strategic and commercial footprint on the continent through long-term nuclear partnerships.
According to a March 2026 analysis by the PIR Center, Rosatom has signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with 15 African countries, including Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Ethiopia and South Africa.
Those agreements typically span a broad range of areas, from regulatory support and personnel training to nuclear medicine, research reactors and, in some cases, future power generation.
Rosatom’s most advanced African project is in Egypt, where the company is building the El Dabaa nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean coast.
The facility is expected to consist of four reactors, each with a planned capacity of 1,200 megawatts, making it the continent’s largest nuclear energy project currently under construction.
The Russian group is also involved in plans for a nuclear research centre in Rwanda, including work linked to a small modular reactor, a technology many African countries are watching as a potentially more flexible and lower-cost route into nuclear energy.
For Ethiopia, however, the road to nuclear power remains long and complex.
Any future project would require not only financing and technology transfer, but also strong oversight, safety systems and international regulatory compliance.
Still, the new roadmap suggests Addis Ababa is moving deliberately to keep nuclear energy on the table as it looks to reduce its dependence on rivers and rainfall to power one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.
