Ethiopia begins filling Gilgel Gibe III hydropower reservoir
Ethiopia has embarked on filling the reservoir of its tallest hydropower dam, the Gilgel Gibe III, and intends to start partial generation of electricity in a couple of months. Rainy Season
Water and Energy Minister Alemayehu Tegenu says the Horn of Africa nation expects the Gibe III reservoir to fill over the May-to-August rainy season to allow the plant to start initial generation of 187 MW.
He adds that 90% of the controversial dam has been completed and that 187 MW will be generated from one of the ten turbines in the plant from August.
Despite opposition from environmentalists, Ethiopia expects electricity generation from the $1.8-billion dam to reach the maximum capacity of 1 870 MW by July 2016.
Gilgel Gibe III is the tallest dam in Africa, at 787 ft, with a storage capacity of 11.75-billion cubic metres.
The plant is one of the five power plants along the Gibe cascade that the Ethiopian government is building on the Omo river to ensure enough electricity to drive economic growth and a surplus for exportation to neighbouring countries.
Environmentalists have opposed the project as they fear it would significantly reduce downstream water levels, negatively impacting on the livelihoods of about 500 000 people. Flooding
The authorities in Ethiopia have, however, maintained that Gibe III will regulate water flows to end flooding downstream and provide a year-round water supply for irrigation projects.
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