Name and Location
Gilgel Gibe (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. The dam will hold an estimated 117-trillion litres of water.

It is the third in a series of cascading hydroelectric projects in the region, including the existing Gibe I and Gibe II dams, as well as the Gibe IV (1 472 MW) and Gibe V (560 MW) dams.

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 400 kV overhead transmission line, 65 km long, which connects Gibe III to a new substation at Sodo.

Value
The dam will cost about $1.7-billion to construct.

Duration
The project is expected to be completed in 2015.

The transmission line is expected to be completed in 2018.

Latest Developments
Gibe III dam is 98.5% complete, according to the Ethiopian government, and will start production of at least 500 MW by the Ethiopian New Year (2008) which falls on September 11 – based on the Julian Calendar not the Gregorian Calendar which most of the world follows.

The dam has ten turbines, each with 187 MW generating capacity. The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE) says three turbines are ready to start and a fourth will soon be ready for operation.

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; some 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 already developed their own countries but wouldn’t allow countries like his to develop. Meles 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