Name and Location
Gibe III dam, Ethiopia.

Client
Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo).

Project Description
The 243-m-high, roller-compacted Gibe III dam is under construction on the Omo river, about 380 km south of Addis Ababa. It is the third in a series of cascading hydroelectric projects in the region, including the 184 MW Gibe I and 420 MW Gibe II.

Once completed, the Gibe III dam will be the largest hydroelectric plant in Africa, with a power output of about 1 870 MW. The dam will have ten installed turbines and be equipped with seven spillways, with water to the power house flowing from the dam through two tunnels, each 1.2 km long.

The power house will accommodate ten turbines.

The power generated by the power plant at Gibe III will be delivered to an interconnected system through a double-circuit high-voltage, 400 kV overhead transmission line, which will export power from Wolyta Sodo, Ethiopia, to the Suswa substation near Naivasha, Kenya.

In addition to the first three facilities, the Ethiopian government has indicated that
it has plans to build two additional facilities on the Omo river – the 1 450 MW Gibe IV and 660 MW Gibe V.

Value
The dam will cost about €1.47-billion to construct.

Duration
The project started generating electricity in October 2015.

The transmission line is expected to be completed in 2018.

Latest Developments
The Gibe III project, which was commissioned this year, has started test trials and is generating 500 MW of electricity for the national grid, an official has said.

This brings Ethiopia one step closer to solving chronic power shortages, which government has blamed on drought conditions that have left businesses and homes struggling to meet their daily needs. Five of Gibe III’s ten turbines have started generating power.

The ten turbines each have a generating capacity of 187 MW, although current drought conditions mean the five operational turbines are not producing at maximum capacity.

The Gibe III dam has had its controversies, with international environmental activist groups alleging it will endanger the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in southern Ethiopia and north-east Kenya. They have also warned that it will endanger the existence of the world’s largest desert lake, Lake Turkana, which Ethiopia and Kenya share.

The Ethiopian government has denied both allegations.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Salini Costruttori (dam construction).

On Budget and on Time?
While Gibe III has missed several deadlines for starting generation, the project has also faced funding constraints. Owing to the determined opposition of international nongovernmental organisations, government has had to forsake funding options from the likes of the European Investment Bank and the World Bank and look instead to China for the funding to finish the project.

A Chinese $460-million loan came with one important condition – part of the hydro construction contract was taken away from the Italian firm Salini Impreglio3 and given to the Chinese Firm Dongfang Electric Corporation.

The late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia would not accept criticism from those who had developed their own countries but would not allow countries like his to develop.

Zenawi said Ethiopia would now turn to nonwestern development partners like China to help it build the future
Gibe IV and V hydroelectric generators on the river.

Contact Details for Project Information
EEPCo, tel +251 11 1 55 95 67, fax +251 01 1 56 00 28 or email eepcocommunication@yahoo.com.
Salini Costruttori external relations, Angela Randolph, tel +39 06 6776412 or email a.randolph@salini.it.