Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam final filling saw completion according to a big announcement that was made on the popular social media platform X, by The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed. Ali made a declaration that there was a successful completion of which is the fourth and final filling of the dam (GERD). The Prime Minister showed his gratitude and got to deeply emphasize the collective effort made by Ethiopians who were a part of this major milestone.
Despite the several challenges that came which are inclusive of external pressure and internal difficulty, Abiy Ahmed stated that Ethiopia still went on with determination and pointed out that still they had more to be done and this was not the end of their efforts. He also made an assurance that he was committed to supporting the development of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam until it is fully completed.
Also read: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Project
Ethiopia had initially kicked off the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the summer of the year 2020. Located on the Blue Nile near the border of Sudan the dam is expected to produce electricity to the population of Ethiopia to promote development and alleviation of poverty.
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Capacity
When operating at full capacity, the huge Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which has a length of 1.8 kilometers and a height of 145 meters has the potential of generating up to a total of over 5,000 megawatts thus doubling the electricity production of Ethiopia. As for now only half of the population in Ethiopia has access to electricity. According to the US International Trade Administration, only 44% of the Ethiopian population had access to electricity in the year 2022.
The GERD has recently been at the center of a regional dispute between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt ever since its groundbreaking took place in the year 2011. The three governments did hold negotiations which were revived in Cairo on 27th August 2023 after a stalemate that had lasted for around two and a half years. Egypt which is currently suffering from extreme scarcity of water says the dam is an existential threat as it majorly depends on the Nile for water supply. Some of the parts of Sudan where the Darfur conflict occurred were basically a war on the struggle for access to water and are highly vulnerable to drought in case it occurs as a result of climate change.
