Ethiopia has officially inaugurated Africa’s largest hydroelectric power dam, located on a tributary of the Nile River.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), constructed at a cost of $5 billion, has sparked hope among Ethiopians as it is expected to supply electricity to millions of citizens.
The dam’s output has gradually increased since the first turbine was activated in 2022, reaching its maximum capacity of 5,150 MW on Tuesday.
This places it among the world’s 20 largest hydroelectric dams, with about one-quarter of the capacity of China’s Three Gorges Dam.
At a ceremony held on Tuesday at the site in Guba, an Ethiopian fighter jet flew low over the mist from the dam’s cascading waters, which plunge 170 metres (558 feet).
Beneath the canopy of a giant Ethiopian flag, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed addressed dignitaries, including the presidents of Somalia, Djibouti, and Kenya.
“To our brothers in Sudan and Egypt: Ethiopia built the dam to prosper, to electrify the entire region, and to change the history of black people,” Abiy said. “It is absolutely not to harm its brothers.”
Abiy emphasized that the dam will expand electricity access for nearly half of Ethiopia’s population who lacked it as recently as 2022, while enabling the country to export surplus power across the region.
The reservoir created by the dam has flooded an area larger than Greater London. The government says this will help provide a steady water supply for irrigation downstream and limit both floods and droughts.
However, Ethiopia’s downstream neighbours have viewed the project with concern since construction began in 2011.
Egypt, which built its own Aswan High Dam on the Nile in the 1960s, fears the GERD could restrict its water supply during droughts and potentially set a precedent for other upstream dams. Its Foreign Ministry wrote to the U.N. Security Council, arguing that the inauguration violated international law.
Cairo has long opposed the project, citing water treaties from the early 20th century and describing the dam as an existential threat. Egypt has stated it reserves the right to “take all appropriate measures to defend and protect the interests of the Egyptian people.”
While refraining from direct reprisals against Ethiopia, Cairo has strengthened ties in recent years with Addis Ababa’s regional rivals, notably Eritrea.
Sudan, meanwhile, has echoed Egypt’s call for a legally binding agreement on the dam’s filling and operation but also stands to benefit from improved flood control and access to affordable electricity.
Ethiopia has filled the reservoir in phases since 2020, insisting the process would not significantly harm downstream countries. Independent research supports this claim, noting that so far no major disruptions to downstream water flow have been recorded—thanks to both favourable rainfall and the phased filling of the reservoir during wet seasons over a five-year period.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
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