Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam: Unstoppable Flagship Project

BY STAFF WRITERS

Ethiopian Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has Started Power Generation with 375 MW.

GERD is under construction in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, on Abay River.

The construction of the GERD commenced in April 2011 with ETB 80bn birr ($4.7bn) worth of contractual agreement with Salini Impregilo. The dam is fully financed by the Ethiopian People and Government.  However, as a result of delays, the project financing has reached 163 billon birr.

The reservoir and dam will offer major benefits to Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan. Aimed primarily at generating power, with an expected capacity of  5,150 MW, the main and saddle dams will also create reservoirs with an impounding capacity of 74 billion cubic meters.

The dam, capable of handling a flood of 19,370 cubic meters per second, will reduce alluvium in Sudan by 100 million cubic meters and also facilitate irrigation of around 500,000ha of new agricultural lands. It will also reduce approximately 40km of flooding in Sudan, upon its completion.

The Grand Renaissance dam will be a roller-compacted concrete (RCC) gravity-type, comprising of two power stations, three spillways and a saddle dam.

The main dam will be 145m high and 1,780m long. The reservoir, with a surface area of 1,680m² at full supply level (FSL) will be formed in the middle section of the dam, between the left and right banks.

Gated spillways fitted with six radial gates will be located on the left-side of the main dam. Each gate will have a capacity to discharge 2,450m3/s of water at probable maximum flood occurrence.

The saddle dam supporting the main dam will be 4,800m long and 45m high. It will have an emergency side of spillway to discharge water directly into the Roseires Dam in Sudan. The two outdoor power stations, with installed capacities of 3,750MW and 2,250MW, will be located on either banks of the river.

Following the official launch of the GERD in April 2011, Ethiopia proposed setting up a tripartite committee and a range of fora, which eventually led to the adoption of the Declaration of Principles on GERD (DoP) in March 2015, signed by all three countries to facilitate the trilateral dialogue. Principally, the DoP underlined the critical need for equitable and reasonable use of the Nile waters.

Ethiopia has held innumerable discussions with both Egypt and Sudan throughout the entire period of construction of the GERD and made it clear from the very beginning that the construction of the GERD is based on its sovereign and legitimate rights to use the Nile waters and its commitment to not cause significant harm to downstream countries. Ethiopia has consistently promoted the concept of collective security and multilateralism at international, regional, and sub-regional levels.

As a hydroelectric dam, the GERD will not cause significant harm to downstream countries. The fact remains that the GERD will increase Ethiopia’s electricity generation capacity to meet its domestic and industrial demands.

In fact, the survival, development and prosperity of Ethiopia, and the region as a whole, are inextricably linked with Ethiopia’s ability to develop its water resources.

The GERD has a range of benefits for Nile Basin countries, including the promotion of access to a reliable economic power supply, opportunities for better flood and erosion control as well as the prospect of a new era of regional cooperation for mutual development.

Completion of the GERD, scheduled for 2023, will help alleviate the region’s energy deficit and play a critical role in spurring development through industrialization, which is fundamental to the promotion of sustainable development, peace and security across the region. Ethiopia remains committed to this win-win outcome. A statement issued by Prime Minister Office over the year affirms this assertion. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam  holds multiple benefits for the two downstream countries of Sudan and Egypt, as well as the East African region at large. The renaissance dam is a good example that is demonstrative of the principle of cooperation.

“The dam has been constructed through the earnest contribution of all citizens of Ethiopia and holds multiple benefits for the two downstream countries of Sudan and Egypt, as well as the East African region at large,” the statement added.

Noting that the benefits for downstream countries are often untold, in Sudan, for example, the GERD provides ample protection against devastating floods and the effects of water shortage during drought and dry periods. GERD help Sudanese water infrastructure to be operated optimally as they receive regulated flow.

More electricity could be generated from existing infrastructure and adequate and regular water could flow in the river downstream throughout the year to enable reliable water supply for people, agriculture, and the ecology. The GERD also brings more energy to the already interconnected systems of Sudan and Ethiopia as well as to others.

 Egypt as a downstream country also benefits from water conservation at the GERD instead of wastage of billions of cubic meters of water to evaporation and in downstream flood plains.

“The GERD also helps to prevent future spillage that overtops the Aswan Dam. Globally and in the Nile region, the GERD as a clean renewable energy source would help to reduce emission that could avoid up to 10.6 million tons of greenhouse gases if it were produced from fuel, coal or gas plants,” It said..

Hence, development of the GERD plays an important role in meeting and increasing renewable energy generation share towards Sustainable Development (SDG) Goal 7 and better water management of Goal 6 of the SDGs, as well as meeting many targets of Africa’s Agenda 2063.

 Hence, it is high time for Egypt and Sudan to downplay old-fashioned negative discourses regarding the renaissance dam and cooperate as it holds multiple benefits for the Nile region.

  As reiterated on several occasions, it is time for the three countries: Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to nurture the narrative towards building peace, cooperation, mutual co-existence and development of peoples of the three countries without harming one another. Nile in general and the GERD project in particular is opportune for such purpose.

Moreover, the major function of the GERD is to manage the highly variable flow of the Abbay and produce 15,760-Gigawatt-hour per year electricity since for Ethiopia electricity remains a resource that is enormously lacking.

The GERD is where Ethiopians from daily laborers to the university professors have committed their hearts and souls. Over 60 million people in Ethiopian do not have access to electricity. We would like to say congratulations to all Ethiopians for the enormous achievement which we have made through our strength!!