On Sunday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made a significant announcement regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, a development that has long been a source of tension between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan.
Abiy Ahmed declared on the “X” platform, “I am pleased to announce the successful completion of the fourth and final filling of the Renaissance Dam.” This announcement came just two weeks after a new round of negotiations among the three countries.
Since 2011, Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia have engaged in protracted negotiations in an effort to reach an agreement on the filling and operation of the GERD. However, these negotiations have not yet resulted in a comprehensive agreement.
Egypt and Sudan have consistently urged Ethiopia to postpone the filling of the dam’s reservoir until a comprehensive agreement is reached. Nevertheless, on June 22, Ethiopia announced its readiness to commence the fourth phase of filling the dam’s reservoir, which has a capacity of approximately 74 billion cubic meters of water.
Situated on the Blue Nile in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, the Renaissance Dam is an imposing structure, measuring 1.8 kilometers in length and standing 145 meters tall.
In February 2022, Ethiopia officially initiated electricity production from the dam, touting it as one of the largest in Africa, with a construction cost exceeding four billion dollars. The initial production target was set at 6,500 megawatts, which is twice Ethiopia’s current production capacity. It is anticipated that the dam will achieve its full production capacity by 2024.
The completion of the fourth and final filling of the GERD marks a significant milestone in Ethiopia’s pursuit of harnessing the Blue Nile’s waters for electricity generation. However, it also raises ongoing concerns and tensions between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan, as these nations continue to grapple with the complexities surrounding the dam’s filling and operation, as well as the potential downstream impacts on water resources.
