The grand ethiopian renaissance dam is the first major dam in the blue nile abay river of ethiopia. It and several other large dams in ethiopia could turn the country. Benefit of grand ethiopian renaissance dam project gerdp. Pdf the grand ethiopian renaissance dam and ethiopias. Construction of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam and its implications on egypt crisis management between egypt and ethiopia. In hydropolitical context, while ethiopia had been able to propel its owncanoe in the first half of the 20th century, a blend of factors worked inconcert to deprive it of. Disputes over the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd. As a background to any large hydroelectric dam, one has to take into account the growing global energy demand and weigh this demand with sharply. Grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd is africas biggest hydroelectric project and the 10 th largest in the world. Dam projects and ethiopias counterhegemony in the nile basin. The most important aspect of the new ethiopian internal scene is the cold conflict between ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed and the military institutions and companies, which directly reflected on the construction of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam, where abiy ahmed declared at a press conference late august 2019 that the gerd might not. When finished, the gerd will be the largest hydroelectric plant in africa.
Egypt, ethiopia fail to reach breakthrough in dam negotiations. Ethiopian officials claimed that egypt requested extending the filling period of the dam to 1221 years. Before discussing the benefits, the article gives a general technical overview of the gerdp. An amicus brief to the riparian nations of ethiopia, sudan and egypt. Jan 19, 2018 the renaissance dam project represents a source of development for the millions of ethiopia s citizens through producing green and sustainable energy, he said. Jun 14, 20 a 300 mw dam was also built by china and completed in 2009 on the tekeze river in ethiopia. The river nile and ethiopias grand renaissance dam. A smaller, 120 mw dam was recently completed on the wele river in equatorial guinea, to mention a few. International experts analyze impacts of ethiopian dam mit news.
Grand ethiopian renaissance dam ethiopia studio pietrangeli. View ethiopian grand renaissance dam research papers on academia. The dam will flood 1,680 square kilometers of forest in northwest ethiopia an area about four times the size of cairo, displace approximately 20,000 people in ethiopia, and create a reservoir that. Evaluating its sustainability standard and geopolitical significance article pdf available march 2014 with 8,502 reads how we measure reads.
In 2011, ethiopia began constructing the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd on the blue nile in a place called guba, approximately 60 km from sudan and 750 km northwest of addis ababa. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam, formerly known as the millennium dam and sometimes referred to as hidase dam, is a gravity dam on the blue nile river in. Before joining the university of exeter, he worked as a consulting. It was officiated as the grand ethiopian millennium dam on april 2, the projects inauguration ceremony. Water flowing out of the dam will be released into the blue nile again which will flow for only around 30 km 19 mi, before joining the roseires reservoir. The under construction grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd and the other. How efficient is the grand ethiopian renaissance dam. Owned and operated by the ethiopian electric power company, the 145mtall rollercompacted concrete gravity dam. Jan 24, 2014 ethiopia is building one of the largest dams in the world, the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd, on the river nile near the sudan border. Ethiopia again rejects egypts vision for renaissance dam. Ethiopia announced in april 2011 that it intends to build four large dams on the nile, including one of the largest in the world, the grand ethiopian renaissance dam formerly known as project x or the grand millennium dam.
Reflections on the grand ethiopian renaissance dam. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam, its impact on egyptian. Ethiopia denies that the dam will have a negative impact on downstream. Dadsong aenvironmental change institute, university of oxford, uk. Managing risks of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam on. Gerd is a combination of 175 m high roller compacted concrete gravity dam and a 50 m high concrete faced rock fill saddle dam under construction by ethiopia. This paper aims to study the effects of constructing such dam on the nr. At the end of the works, the grand ethiopian renaissance dam will be the largest dam in africa.
A vast section of northern ethiopia has been turned into a giant building site. Eastern nile river basin ethiopia, sudan and egypt. Egypt, especially water security as a result of the construction of the ethiopian renaissance dam. There are other but not very significant streams joining the nile. Ethiopias determination to build a major new dam, the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd, for hydropower purposes has been the flashpoint of current conflicts in the eastern nile basin gebreluel, 2014. In 2011, ethiopia began building the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd on the blue nile river in a place called guba, 60 kilometres from sudan mainly for the electric power generation. The gerd reservoir will cover an area of 1874 km 2 at full supply level of 640 m above mean sea level, with total and active storage volumes of 74 bcm 5. Description for grand ethiopian renaissance dam ethiopia the grand ethiopian renaissance dam project is a majestic hydroelectric plant, which was born in the 60s from the imagination of giorgio pietrangeli, concerning a vast and farsighted plan to exploit the blue nile potential for hydroelectric purposes and improve management of this huge water resource.
Jun, 2019 the grand ethiopian renaissance dam is a major component of ethiopias economic diversification plan. Grand ethiopian renaissance dam bameza, ethiopia landmark. This article quantifies major benefits the grand ethiopian renaissance dam project for sudan and egypt. In ethiopia which is one of most important water sources of the nr, a study for constructing the renaissance dam on the blue nile close to its border with sudan was initiated. How has the grand ethiopian renaissance dam changed the legal.
The development of great ethiopian renaissance dam gerd is causing political escalation of tensions between ethiopia and egypt based on current issues and the expectations for requirements that must be met before the completion of the dam construction. Evaluation of multistorage hydropower development in the upper. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gets set to open. As of the summer of 2017, the project is estimated to be 60% complete. Five sticking key issues into 2016 though egypt, sudan and ethiopia said on tuesday they have reached a new consensus over the dam, the issue is still expected to be a. Consequently, technical cooperation is leading to increasing political partnership at state level. Construction of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam known as gerd is now about 30%. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam formerly known as the millennium dam and. Sep 24, 2019 ethiopia again rejects egypts vision for renaissance dam. Tension spikes despite renaissance dam talks the africa report 09. Talaqu yeityoppya hidase gidib, formerly known as the millennium dam and sometimes referred to as hidase dam amharic. Later renamed grand ethiopian hidase dam or grand ethiopian renaissance dam, by the council of ministers on april 20. While the recent round of negotiations on ethiopia s renaissance dam ended with a new document aimed at entrenching cooperation between egypt, sudan and ethiopia, it did not resolve the differences over the water filling and dam operation process.
The grand renaissance dam grd is ethiopia s workinprogress to dam up the nile close to its border with sudan. The project is located approximately 500 km north west of the capital addis ababa, in the region of benishangul gumaz along the blue nile. Five sticking key issues into 2016 though egypt, sudan and ethiopia said on tuesday they have reached a new consensus over the. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd construction continues on the nile river. Evaluating its sustainability standard and geopolitical significance. The case of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam deutsches.
The research aims to identify the benefits and potential risks of building renaissance dam in ethiopia, and to clarify the potential political and economic effects on egypt especially water security. Hydropolitical contention over the renaissance dam. The 10 nile basin countries see map especially egypt, have had water resources infrastructure on the nile. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd, formerly known as the millennium dam, is under construction in the benishangulgumuz region of ethiopia, on the blue nile river, which is located about 40km east of sudan. Once the construction of the dam is complete in 2022 after a series of delays linked to political uncertainty and allegations of corruption in the militaryrun conglomerate that was the lead domestic contractor, it will be the largest dam. The dam is designed to create a reservoir that will have a capacity of holding about 74 billion cubic meters of water at the full supply level. The blue nile river begins at lake tana in the northwestern.
This huge dam will flood 1,680 square kilometers of forest in northwest ethiopia, near the sudan border, and create a reservoir that is nearly twice as large as lake tana. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd or taihige. It will be the largest hydropower project in africa. May 25, 2018 egypt, ethiopia fail to reach breakthrough in dam negotiations. Commenced in april 2011, the construction of the dam was a source. Egypt, ethiopia agree to resume technical discussions on. The renaissance dam is a grand hydropowered project being constructed on the blue nile, some 20 kilometers upstream the borders with sudan. Construction of the dam is located in northwest ethiopia. It was long known that two huge rivers merged to form the nile. Why an ethiopiaegypt war over river nile dam might be good the east african 14. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd is expected to create a reservoir of 73 bcm billion cubic meter covering an area of 1883 km 2 stretching 246 km upstream. Grand ethiopian renaissance dam project salini impregilo. Grand ethiopian renaissance dam analysis springerlink.
Figure 1 presents the general facts about nile river basin and its flows in the riparian countries. Structure of the presentation political geography of the nile the nile basin initiative nbi the nile basin cooperative framework agreement cfa the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd. The location of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd, now under construction near ethiopias border with sudan, is shown in red. Updated facts grand ethiopian renaissance dam horn affairs. The 6,000megawatt grand ethiopian renaissance dam, shown here in may 2016, is scheduled to begin producing electricity in 2017. The reservoir will be half the size of the upstream lake tana.
Treaty obligations and the grand ethiopian renaissance dam allafrica 15. After more than a year of stalled negotiations between egypt and ethiopia on the grand ethiopian renaissance dam, egypts diplomatic moves at the regional and international levels seem to have led nowhere. Cooperative filling approaches for the grand ethiopian. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd constitutes a real crisis for the egyptian regime, where ethiopia several times blamed egypt for the failure of negotiations conducted between sudan, egypt and ethiopia on. Background in 2011, ethiopia began building the grand ethiopian renaissance dam project gerdp on the blue nile river in a place called guba, 60 kilometres from sudan, which hold 74 billion. Geopolitical importance the eastern nile basin is of critical geopolitical importance to the niles overall hydropolitical regime. Grand ethiopian renaissance dam international rivers. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd is a 6,450 mw hydropower project nearing completion on the blue nile in ethiopia, located about 30 km upstream of the border with sudan. Grand ethiopian renaissance dam project, benishangulgumuz. Hidase gidib, is a gravity dam on the blue nile river in ethiopia that has been under construction since 2011. The border project which is known now as the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd is a hydropower project being built recently on the blue nile abbay river to generate 6,000 mwh of electricity by exploiting the rivers flow which has an average 1,541 m3s of annual water discharge. Aug 26, 2015 at present, egypt, ethiopia, and sudan have agreed to select two european advisory offices to carry out technical studies on the renaissance dam and its effects on the nile water share of the downstream countries all africa 2015. It is not possible to combine bekoabo high and karadobi because of the.
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