Ethiopia to begin generating electricity from Nile Dam
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Topics: ETHIOPIA
The $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is expected to collect 13.5 billion cubic meters of the Blue Nile River water in the rainy season, swelling its reservoir to 18.4 billion cubic meters, the ministry statement said.
The Blue Nile, which originates in Ethiopia, is one of two major tributaries of the Nile River and during the rainy season it contributes up to 80% of the Nile’s water.
A power line 650 kilometers long has been completed to connect the electricity generated at the dam to the country’s power grid, said the statement.
The dam is now 80% complete and is expected to reach full generating capacity in 2023, making it Africa’s largest hydroelectric power plant and the world’s seventh-largest, according to reports in state media.
“Ethiopia will not tolerate any move that’s aimed at disrupting the water filling process, its operation and water releasing scheme,” the ministry stated.
Ethiopia welcomed a recent report that Egypt does not object to the plans to continue filling the dam this year. Egyptian officials have said they can deal with shortages that may be caused by the water filling process, according to foreign ministry spokesperson Dina Mufti. ■