Ethiopia readies to test start GERD power generation

Ethiopia is on course to start test generation of the 6,450 MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) built on the Blue Nile river, an Ethiopian official has said.

A public relations official at the National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of GERD quoted by Xhinua said the said two turbines each with capacity to generate 375 MW have already been installed and are waiting test electricity generation.

The $4.7 billion which has been on since 2011 will see Ethiopia export electricity to countries in the region.

“When complete, more than 50 percent of the dam’s generated electricity will be sold to Nile river basin countries and neighboring countries,” said Abraham, adding that the Ethiopian government has placed the dam’s completion at the center of Ethiopia’s economic ambitions.

The project which is said to be 64% completed is however facing a financing uphill as the Ethiopia government struggles inject funding to complete the project.

GERD, which will be Africa’s largest dam upon completion with a total volume of 74 billion cubic meters, was started in April 2011 with a cost of about 4.7 billion U.S. dollars.

The GERD project, owned and financed by the Ethiopian government, is located some 40 km east of Ethiopia’s neighboring country Sudan.

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