The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has reached 98.66 percent completion, with six of its generating units currently operational, the government revealed on Sunday.
The dam’s progress update was announced as the Ethiopian government began its nine-month performance review session for the current 2024/2025 Ethiopian fiscal year which began on July 8, 2024.
The session noted that the mega dam would be inaugurated within six months, representing a triumph in overcoming economic pressure through self-sufficiency and collective effort.
The government said the dam is now nearing full completion and plays a critical role in boosting the country’s electricity generation capacity and regional power supply.
The update on GERD underscored the project’s continued advancement as one of the country’s flagship infrastructure projects.
Once fully completed, the dam will have a generating capacity of 5,150 megawatts with an annual energy output of 15,760 GWH, according to information obtained from the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP).
The Horn of Africa country started to build the GERD on the Nile River in April 2011.
The mega hydroelectric power project has since then been a major issue among the three Nile-straddling countries of Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan.
Ethiopia frequently reiterates that the dam will power its development aspirations and boost its ambition to attain a lower-middle-income status in the near future.
However, the dam project has been mired in controversy.
Egypt and Sudan frequently express their concern that the dam would affect their share of water from the world’s longest river, a misgiving Addis Ababa dismissed as untrue.
Throughout the course of the project, rhetoric from both sides had hardened leading to suggestions that Ethiopia and Egypt may resort to military confrontation.
Last September Egypt protested to the UN security council over Ethiopia’s continued filling of the dam as more power generating turbines came into operation.
Egypt demand that the UN declare Ethiopia’s move as a violation of international law and disregarding its obligations to prevent any harm to Egyptian interest.
MG/as/APA