Name of the Project
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Location
The GERD is located on the Abay river, in the Beneshangul Gumuz region of Ethiopia.
Client
Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo).
Project Description
The project envisages a plant with an installed capacity of 6 000 MW that will supply 15 692 GWh/y.
The major components of the project include:
• a 145-m-high, roller-compacted concrete (RCC) dam with a 1 780-m-long crest;
• a rock-filled saddle dam, 4 800 m long and 45 m high, with 24 upstream bituminous facing;
• two outdoor powerhouses of 3 750 MW and 2 250 MW installed capacity, containing ten and six generating units respectively, each with a capacity of 375 MW; and
• a 500 kV switchyard, which will transmit power from the two powerhouses to the grid.
The main dam and saddle dam will create 74-billion cubic metres of impounding capacity, with a surface area of 1 680 km2 at full capacity.
A gated spillway, equipped with six radial gates and a discharge capacity of 14 700 m3/s at probable maximum flood occurrence, will be located on the left side of the main dam.
A saddle dam on the left side of the RCC dam, with an emergency side spillway, is envisaged to allow for flood water discharged directly into the Roseires reservoir.
The construction of 123 km of access roads, as well as camps, workshops and other civil works, form part of the activities for the project.
Potential Job Creation
Not stated.
Value
The project is valued at an estimated $4.8-billion.
Duration
The project is expected to take 78 months.
Latest Developments
The leaders of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have set a one-month deadline for laying out the ways of breaking a deadlock in talks over the GERD.
Egypt and Ethiopia are at loggerheads over the construction of dam, which Cairo fears will reduce waters that run to its fields and reservoirs from Ethiopia's highlands and through Sudan.
Ethiopia, which is financing the project alone and hopes to become the continent's biggest power generator and exporter, has dismissed the claims. Sudan supports the dam because it will regulate floods and provide electricity and irrigation.
Talks between the three governments have stalled for months, owing to a disagreement on the wording of a study on the dam's environmental impact.
A major source of disagreement over the construction of the GERD is the speed at which its reservoir will be filled.
Sudan and Ethiopia have also previously expressed concern about a proposed baseline from which a study by a French firm commissioned to assess the dam's environmental and economic impact would measure the dam's effects.
The dam is now more than 60% complete.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
Salini Costruttori, a subsidiary of Salini Impregilo (construction contract) and Alstom (turbine and generators).
On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
EEPCo, tel +251 11 1 55 95 67, fax +251 11 1 57 1860 or email eepcocommunication@yahoo.com.