Finicha'a

Finicha'a (also transliterated Finchawa) is a town in western Ethiopia. Located in the Horo Gudru Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of 09°54′N 37°27′E / 9.900°N 37.450°E / 9.900; 37.450 with an altitude of 1302 meters above sea level. Finicha'a hosts an airport (ICAO code HAFN, IATA code FNH) which consists of an unpaved airstrip about 1480 meters in length. It is the administrative center of Abay Chomen woreda.

Overview

Finicha'a is near the Fincha Dam, which was inaugurated by Emperor Haile Selassie in November 1973. At the time the dam was the largest hydro-electric project in the country, built at a cost of over Birr 81 million and with a power output of 84 MW, more than the combined output of the other four power stations which existed at the time. The hydroelectric power plant was overhauled in March 1999 by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation at a cost of US $3 million, increasing its hydroelectric capacity to 100 MW.

Previously Fincha was a location of habitat for the endangered African wild dog, Lycaon pictus, but that canid is thought to be extirpated from the region due to human population expansion.