Two turbines of the mega dam could start generating hydroelectric power as early as next year, according to a report by state media, Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC).
borkena
September 25, 2019
Ethiopia’s Water, Irrigation and Energy Minister, Seleshi Bekele, has paid a visit to the project site of the Mega dam – a project for Egypt is asking for international intervention after a disagreement with Ethiopia in the latest round of talks that took place in Cairo.
EBC cited the minister as saying that the project has shown remarkable progress after projects that were under Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC), a state conglomerate run by the Defense force, were contracted out to five international contractors.
Salini Impregilo, a giant Italian construction company that has been in Ethiopia for over fifty years, has resumed the civil construction aspect of the project which was stopped earlier due to delayed electro-mechanical work which was under METEC’s plate at the past.
Over 96 percent of Saddle dam construction in the left and right side of the mega-dam is completed, and contractors are currently working on finishing work, according to EBC report.
The height of the main dam itself has reached at 145 meters and concrete filling word in the middle part of the dam is underway. So far 8 million metric cube concrete is filled. The entire concrete filling work of the project is said to be about 1.2 million metric cubes.
Two power generating units that are expected to generate power sometime in December 2021 will generate about 750 MW of power. When completed, the entire power generating units of the dam will generate over 6000 MW electric power a part of which is intended to be exported to Sudan, one of the lower riparian countries of the Nile River.
Ethiopia anticipates completion of the project in three years time.
Water, irrigation, and water minister reportedly said that Egypt’s recent position on the filling and release of the water is unclear.
Ethiopia has repeatedly made clear its commitment that filling the dam and releasing the water from the dam will be in a way that will not impact the lower riparian countries negatively.
The tripartite talk between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan is due to continue in Khartoum at the end of this month. Ethiopia and Sudan will present their position on Egyptian proposal which said, among other things, that Egypt will have its own engineers in the dam project.
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If Meles Zenawi and Simegnew Bekele were still alive their vision of finishing the construction according to the schedule d time would have came true, the construction would have already been finished as the initial plan . But now the dam is being constructed in the worst quality standard with years maybe even decades left to finish the construction.It might not be fully operational in this century.
While the dog barks and the Cravan moves.
Egypt will continue to bark even the entire project was cancelled. Shame on this country wwho wants to control a raifall of a country situation thousands of miles far. They never took Ethiopia’s concern through out the years until they faced the fact. Egypt find and build an alternative to the current situation instead of wasting millions of $$$$ to build General Sisi more palaces that will consume more water than the consumption of thousands of people.
While the dog barks and the Cravan moves.
Egypt will continue to bark even the entire project was cancelled. Shame on this country wwho wants to control a raifall of a country situation thousands of miles far. They never took Ethiopia’s concern through out the years until they faced the fact. Egypt find and build an alternative to the current situation instead of wasting millions of $$$$ to build General Sisi more palaces that will consume more water than the consumption of thousands of people.
THY never tell the truth to the Egyptian or others thy will not say that (thy have 160 bns of water stored behind HAD( high swan dam ) and thy can use it for 3 years without getting any drop of water from outside always this is the way of (farrows )