Ethiopia’s Abiy inaugurates electricity production at Nile mega-dam

Continued on: 20/02/2022 – 08:29

abiyAccompanied by high-ranking officials, they visited the power generation station and pressed a series of buttons on an electronic screen, a move the officials said began production.

“This great dam was built by the Ethiopians, but to benefit not only the Ethiopians, but all our African brothers and sisters,” said an official presiding over the launch ceremony.

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) The project is set to be the largest hydroelectric power project in Africa, but has been at the center of a territorial dispute since Ethiopia broke ground there in 2011.

EthiopiaDownstream neighbors Egypt and Sudan see the dam as a threat because of their reliance on the waters of the Nile, while Addis Ababa sees it as essential for electrification and development.

The $4.2 billion (3.7 billion euro) project is expected to eventually produce more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity, more than doubling Ethiopia’s electricity output.

The dam, which is located in western Ethiopia off the border with Sudan, started generating 375 megawatts of electricity from one of its turbines on Sunday, state media reported.

Africa’s largest dam

Ethiopia began construction of the GERD in 2011 on the Blue Nile, about 30 kilometers (18 mi) from the border with Sudan.

The first phase of filling the massive reservoir for the 145-metre (475-foot) dam began in mid-2020.

The reservoir has a total capacity of 74 billion cubic metres, and the target for 2021 was to add 13.5 billion. Last July Ethiopia said it had added enough water to start energy production, although officials have not provided a specific figure and are believed to have fallen short of the target.

Egypt’s Thirst

The project has increased tensions with Egypt, an arid nation of about 100 million people, dependent on the Nile for most of its water needs, including agriculture.

Cairo claimed historic rights to the river from a 1929 treaty between Egypt and Sudan, represented by colonial power Britain, which gave Egypt veto power over construction projects along the river.

The 1959 treaty increased Egypt’s allocation to about 66 percent of the river’s flow, with 22 percent for Sudan.

Ethiopia was not a party to those treaties and does not see them as valid.

In 2010 the Nile Basin countries except Egypt and Sudan signed another agreement, the Cooperative Framework Agreement, which allows projects on the river without a Cairo agreement.

failed negotiation

Ethiopia, one of Africa’s fastest growing economies in recent years until the war broke out in November 2020, insists the dam will not affect the onward flow of water.

But Egypt fears its supply will run out during the time it takes to fill the reservoir.

Egypt considers the dam a threat to its existence and Sudan has warned that millions of lives would be at “great risk” if Ethiopia unilaterally filled the dam.

Negotiations sponsored by the African Union (AU) have failed to reach a three-way agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.

regional tension

Another source of regional tension is the conflict in northern Ethiopia since November 2020, which has sent thousands of refugees fleeing across the border to Sudan.

Sudan has been grappling with its political and economic woes since a coup in October toppled the transitional government.

Relations between Addis Ababa and Khartoum have also deteriorated due to a territorial conflict over the fertile Fashaka border region where Ethiopian farmers have cultivated land long claimed by Sudan.

There have been sporadic violent clashes in the area.

(France 24 with AFP)