The dam was originally called project x, and after its contract was announced it was called the millennium dam. Benefit of grand ethiopian renaissance dam project gerdp. Sudan on sunday urged egypt and ethiopia to return to negotiations to reach a deal regarding the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd. It will be the largest hydropower project in africa. Ethiopia vows to fill dam despite egyptian threats the east. Ethiopia continued to claim that it took all steps that ensure that the renaissance dam would not harm egypt, but rather claimed that the dam will bring egypt tremendous benefits, playing the role. How efficient is the grand ethiopian renaissance dam. 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.
The construction of the grand renaissance dam gerd has been a source of tension between ethiopia and. The ethiopian grand renaissance dam gerd the nile basin. Ethiopia has a potential for about 45 gw of hydropower. Ethiopia s grand renaissance dam is seen as it undergoes construction work on the river nile in guba woreda, benishangul gumuz region, ethiopia september 26, 2019. Treaty obligations and the grand ethiopian renaissance dam allafrica 15.
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. Thematic documents of the iii world water forum, comision nacional. Ethiopian renaissance dam gerd, which is under construction. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam program in water conflict. Also, the sudanese foreign ministry later held the egyptian side accountable for failure of these negotiations.
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 gerd the 8th largest reservoir on earth will soon join. 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. The argument over the grand ethiopian renaissance dam. Ethiopia claims renaissance dam matter of survival. Apr 17, 2020 a general view of the blue nile river as it passes through the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd, near guba in ethiopia, on 26 december 2019 eduardo soteras afp via getty images april 17. Ethiopia pushes for african role in renaissance dam dispute. The need for ethiopia, egypt and the sudans to reconcile their. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd is an ambitious. Perspectives on the declaration of principles regarding the grand ethiopian renaissance dam minga negash, seid hassan, mammo muchie and abu girma1 i. Revisiting hydrohegemony from a benefitsharing perspective. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd will become the largest dam and hydroelectric scheme in africa. Ethiopian officials claimed that egypt requested extending the filling period of the dam to 1221 years.
Evaluating its sustainability standard and geopolitical significance article pdf available march 2014 with 8,502 reads how we measure reads. As the grand name suggests, its hard to overstate the importance of the renaissance dam to ethiopia africas most populous nation after nigeriaor the burden that rode on the 54. Grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd the grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd is africas biggest hydroelectric project and the 10 th largest in the world. An opportunity for collaboration and shared benefits in the eastern nile basin an amicus brief to the riparian nations of ethiopia, sudan and egypt from the international, nonpartisan eastern nile working group convened at the massachusetts institute of technology on 14 november 2014. The dam is being funded by government bonds and private donations. This would reduce the current evaporation of more than 10 billion cubic meters per year, but it would also reduce the ability of the aswan high dam to produce hydropower to the tune of a 100 mw loss of generating capacity for a 3 m reduction of the water level. Ethiopia has asked the united states to postpone what was expected to be the final round of talks on its grand ethiopian renaissance dam, delaying the potential resolution of a yearslong dispute.
The gerd is currently in the midst of a largescale political battle between ethiopia, sudan, and egypt. Ethiopia grand renaissance dam as seen it undergoes construction work on the river nile in september 26,2019. Grand ethiopian renaissance dam project salini impregilo. 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. This book is about the grand ethiopian renaissance dam newly being built on the blue nile, a transboundary river. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam and the future of the. The diversion of the blue nile river through four new culverts is underway.
Managing risks of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam on. Jul 14, 2014 due to open in 2017, the grand ethiopian renaissance dam will be africas largest hydroelectric power station. The project is located approximately 500 km north west of the capital addis ababa, in the region of benishangul gumaz along the blue nile. Impacts of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam on downstream. Documents in econstor may be saved and copied for your personal and. Egypt accepts ethiopiasudan proposal to renegotiate dam. Sudan rejects polarisation attempts in renaissance dam crisis. Ethiopia began the dam construction in 2011 and plans to complete it in 2020. Grand ethiopian renaissance dam project, benishangulgumuz. Sudan urges egypt, ethiopia to resume talks on nile dam. Egypts water use efficiency is more than 85%, abdel aty tells parties in addis ababa. Ethiopia wont be forced by us on dam, foreign minister says. Ethiopias nile dam project signals its intention to become.
This says member countries would work together to not significantly affect the water security of any other nile basin state. Introduction on march 23, 2015, egypt, ethiopia and the sudan signed a declaration of principles on the grand ethiopian renaissance dam2 gerd. The main sticking point has been article on water security article 14b. Pdf ethiopia has begun seriously developing their significant hydropower potential by launching.
Grand ethiopian renaissance dam, when completed, will reduce the capacity of the. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam on the blue nile. 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. Pdf ethiopia has begun seriously developing their significant hydropower. The project, known as the border dam, would have had an 85meterhigh dam, a reservoir just onefifth the size of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam, and a. Tension spikes despite renaissance dam talks the africa report 09. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam could also lead to a permanent lowering of the water level in lake nasser if floods are stored instead in ethiopia. Gigantic nile dam prompts clash between egypt and ethiopia. 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 will hold around 70 billion cubic meters of water equivalent to the entire annual flow of the blue nile at the sudan border. 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 the dam. How has the grand ethiopian renaissance dam changed the legal, political.
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. Addis ababa is looking for an african union role to solve the gerd dispute after rejecting the us mediation and accusing washington of bias, while egypt continues to blame ethiopia for the failure in achieving progress in the. May 31, 2017 ethiopia gains more support from sudan over the construction grand renaissance dam duration. On 15 april 2011, the council of ministers renamed it grand ethiopian renaissance dam. Ethiopia asks to delay final talks on disputed blue nile dam. The case of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam deutsches. The renaissance dam crisis and ethiopian allegations. Pdf forum papers are thoughtprovoking opinion pieces or essays founded in fact. Why an ethiopia egypt war over river nile dam might be good the east african 14.
Contribution of each of the nile main tributaries river flow bcm percentage blue nile 50 59% white nile 11. 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 cubic meters bcm storage capacity and about 60 bcm live storage which will produce 6000 mw electric generation. Remote sensing of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam. Commenced in april 2011, the construction of the dam was a source. Downstream countries egypt and sudan have expressed concerns over the impacts of the dam on their water supply. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam also known as the grand millennium dam, now being developed near the sudan border in great. Dam projects and ethiopias counterhegemony in the nile basin. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam gerd is a 6000 mw hydropower project on the blue nile, which the ethiopian government plans to build to fulfill the countrys energy needs. Owned and operated by the ethiopian electric power company, the 145mtall rollercompacted concrete gravity dam. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam will facilitate flood protection in the lower areas, irrigation, sediment control and navigation. Evaluating its sustainability standard and geopolitical significance. Figure 1 presents the general facts about nile river basin and its flows in the riparian countries. Apr 08, 2019 the grand ethiopian renaissance dam, or gerd, being built in ethiopia is causing worry in egypt, which already faces water and food scarcity challenges.
Ethiopias grand renaissance dam efficiency international rivers. Mar 20, 2020 ethiopia vows to fill dam despite egyptian threats friday march 20 2020 water flows through ethiopia s grand renaissance dam as it undergoes construction work on the river nile in guba woreda, benishangul gumuz region, ethiopia on september 26, 2019. The renaissance dam project has sparked a dispute over ethiopia s development needs, versus egypts concerns over water scarcity and climate change. To achieve ethiopias no harm goal, it is important that the gerd, ahd, and sudans reservoirs be operated in coordination by egypt, ethiopia, and sudan.
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