energy
Ethiopia: Controversial Nile dam now supplies electricity
The dam in Ethiopia has been a source of disputes with Egypt and Sudan for years. Photo: Yirga Mengistu/Adwa Pictures Plc/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
It is to be the largest dam in Africa – and the dam built in Ethiopia is already generating electricity from hydropower. In Egypt and Sudan, on the other hand, the project remains controversial.
Ethiopia has put the Nile dam, which is controversial in Egypt and Sudan, into operation.
One of the 13 turbines of the Great Renaissance Dam (GERD) was commissioned in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and is expected to generate around 375 megawatts of electricity. From now on there is nothing that can stop Ethiopia, said Abiy Ahmed.
Largest dam in Africa
The dam, which is being built in north-west Ethiopia, is expected to be the largest dam in Africa when it is completed in two to three years. According to Ethiopian information, the dam will in future generate up to 6,500 megawatts of electricity from hydropower. With the 4.6 billion dollar dam, Addis Ababa wants to generate the electricity needed for economic development and supply 60 percent of the population with electricity.
GERD is built on the Blue Nile and has been a source of disputes between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan for years. Egypt, which gets more than 90 percent of its water needs from the river, fears that too little water will flow down the Nile in the future. The states are struggling to reach an agreement on how to fill the reservoir and operate the dam.
The Blue Nile joins the White Nile in Khartoum, the capital of neighboring Sudan. The river is then called the Nile. It then flows further north through Sudan and Egypt to the Nile Delta on the Mediterranean Sea.