Germany's Voith to supply more turbines for Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - German mechanical engineering conglomerate Voith has signed an agreement to supply turbines for a $4 billion dam Ethiopia is building along the River Nile, state-affiliated media said on Wednesday.

The 6,000 megawatt Grand Renaissance Dam is the centrepiece of the Horn of Africa country's bid to become the continent's biggest power exporter.

The agreement with Voith, which has already supplied 13 out of the dam's 16 turbines alongside France's Alstom, was made after the government, due to delays, cancelled a contract with its military-run Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC)to provide the remaining three turbines, sustaining losses.

"The contract was awarded to Voith in a tender floated two weeks ago at a $5.9 million discount from each (of the three) turbine," Fana Broadcasting Corporation quoted METEC's commercial operations head Abdulaziz Mohammed as saying.

Italian firm Salini Impregilo remains the main contractor building the dam, while METEC was the contractor for the electromechanical and hydraulic steel structure divisions of the project.

In August, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed acknowledged that the dam would face a delay of several years having initially been expected to be completed by 2020.

The government plans to restructure METEC, which is set to be renamed as the National Metal Engineering Corporation.

(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)