Ethiopia’s Minister of Water and Energy, Habtamu Itefa, has announced plans to install and operate five additional turbines at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), complementing the two turbines that were inaugurated in August last year.
In an interview with state television, Itefa detailed that once operational, the five turbines would produce an impressive 1,180 megawatts of energy. This capacity equals the average production of four dams operating in different parts of Ethiopia. When all 13 turbines of the GERD are functional, the dam will boast a total production capacity of 5,150 megawatts.
Ethiopia had recently announced the final and fourth phase of filling the dam’s reservoir on the Blue Nile, a move met with staunch criticism from Egypt, the downstream Nile Basin country. Egypt decried the unilateral filling as another violation by Addis Ababa, complicating recently resumed negotiations.
An official statement from Egypt’s Foreign Ministry claimed Ethiopia’s actions continued to breach the 2015 Declaration of Principles agreement signed by Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan. The agreement necessitates a tripartite consensus on the rules of filling and operating the Ethiopian dam before initiating the fill.
Ethiopia’s recent declaration came two weeks after a fresh round of negotiations about the dam’s filling, involving Egypt and Sudan on one side and Ethiopia on the other. Notably, these trilateral negotiations, halted for over two years, were reconvened in Cairo on August 27.
For years, Egypt and Sudan have insisted on reaching a three-way agreement concerning the dam’s operation and filling to ensure the continued flow of their annual Nile water quotas. However, Ethiopia has consistently defended its sovereign right to proceed with the dam, emphasizing it does not aim to harm any nation.
Since its inception in 2011, GERD has been a source of contention between Addis Ababa, Cairo, and Khartoum, all heavily reliant on Nile waters. Launched in 2011, the $4 billion project aims to build Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam, though it has stirred regional tensions, especially with Egypt, which relies on the Nile for about 90% of its irrigation and drinking water needs.
Located on the Blue Nile in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, about 30 kilometers from the Sudanese border, the dam stretches 1,800 meters in length and stands 145 meters tall.
This ongoing saga underscores the delicate balance between Ethiopia’s development ambitions and the crucial water needs of downstream countries.
