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The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
Today we are gona talk about the impact of conflicts on the development of Ethiopia, and its neighbours, with specific reference to the Grand Renaissance Dam.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD formerly known as the Millennium Dam and sometimes referred to as the Hidase Dam is a gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia under construction since 2011. The dam is situated in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia, about 45 km (28 mi) east of the border with Sudan.
EFFECTS OF CONFLICTS IN THE COUNTRY
Due to the coup d'état of 1974 and following 17-year-long Ethiopian Civil War, the project failed to progress.
This is a clear example how conflicts in Africa derail the progress towards economic development. For such a long time, 17 years, the project had come to a standstill, preventing Ethiopia from addressing its acute energy challenges and inability to export electricity to neighbouring countries, hindering other investments from being undertaken, thus keeping the population around in poverty, joblessness and fear.
Egypt, located over 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) downstream of the site, opposes the dam, which it believes will reduce the amount of water available from the Nile. Zenawi argued, based on an unnamed study, that the dam would not reduce water availability downstream and would also regulate water for irrigation.
In May 2011, it was announced that Ethiopia would share blueprints for the dam with Egypt so that the downstream impact could be examined.
Ethiopia has a potential for about 45 GW of hydropower.The dam is being funded by government bonds and private donations. It was earmarked for completion in July 2017.
The Government of Egypt, a country which depends on the Nile for about 97% of its irrigation and drinking water, has demanded that Ethiopia cease construction on the dam as a precondition to negotiations, has sought regional support for its position, and some political leaders have discussed methods to sabotage it.
Egypt has planned a diplomatic initiative to undermine support for the dam in the region as well as in other countries supporting the project such as China and Italy. However, other nations in the Nile Basin Initiative have expressed support for the dam, including Sudan, the only other nation downstream of the Blue Nile, although Sudan's position towards the dam has varied over time. In 2014, Sudan accused Egypt of inflaming the situation.
Ethiopia denies that the dam will have a negative impact on downstream water flows and contends that the dam will, in fact, increase water flows to Egypt by reducing evaporation on Lake Nasser. Ethiopia has accused Egypt of being unreasonable.
In October 2019, Egypt stated that talks with Sudan and Ethiopia over the operation of a $4 billion hydropower dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile had reached a deadlock.
Cost and financing
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is estimated to cost close to 5 billion US dollars, about 7% of the 2016 Ethiopian gross national product. The lack of international financing for projects on the Blue Nile River has persistently been attributed to Egypt's campaign to keep control on the Nile water share. Ethiopia has been forced to finance the GERD with crowd funding through internal fund raising in the form of selling bonds and persuading employees to contribute a portion of their incomes.
As of April 2023, Ethiopia's Office of National Coordination announced that 90% of constructions had been completed.
Benefits
A major benefit of the dam will be hydropower production. All the energy generated by GERD will be going into the national grid of Ethiopia to fully support the development of the whole country, both in rural and urban areas.
The role of GERD will be to act as a stabilising backbone of the Ethiopian national grid. There will be exports, but only if there is a total surplus of energy generated in Ethiopia. This is mainly expected to happen during rainy seasons, when there is plenty of water for hydropower generation.
The eventual surplus electricity of GERD which does not fit the demand inside Ethiopia, is then to be sold and exported to neighbouring countries including Sudan and possibly Egypt. Exporting the electricity from the dam would require the construction of massive transmission lines to major consumption centers such as Sudan's capital Khartoum, and Kenya.
Up to 7,000 tonnes of fish are expected to be harvested annually. The reservoir may become a tourist destination.
Sudan expects fewer floods thanks to the dam, but this has not been observed in reality yet.
