Name of the Project
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Location
The GERD is located on the Abay river, in the Beneshangul Gumuz region of Ethiopia.

Project Owner/s
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 the discharge of flood water 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.

Capital Expenditure
The project is valued at an estimated $4.8-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
In January, Ethiopia's water and energy minister said that following construction delays, the dam would start production by the end of 2020 and be fully operational by 2022.

Latest Developments
Construction of the dam has been delayed five years, as engineers had to replace shoddy work done by a conglomerate last year, a project official has said.

"We have removed some of the steelworks on bottom outlets and replaced them with new ones," site coordinator and deputy head of the project Belachew Kassa, has told news publication Reuters.

"We also readjusted and repaired some of the steel structure works."

The bottom outlets were initially done by METEC – Ethiopia's military-industrial conglomerate that undertook much of the building work – but was pulled from the project in August last year after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April that year.

Experts found that the bottom outlets were below the quality requirements. A bottom outlet is an opening at a low level from a reservoir that is generally used to freely discharge water.

Controversy in Ethiopia has focused on METEC's involvement in the project to dam the Nile, but Egypt considers the effort as an existential threat, since the river supplies nearly 90% of its fresh water for drinking, farming and industry.

Early this year, Ethiopia handed contracts to fulfil METEC's work to a group of foreign companies that include Italy's Salini Impregilo, GE Hydro France, China Gezhouba Group Corp, Voith Hydro Shanghai and China's Sinohydro Corp.

Belachew has said it is unclear exactly how much METEC is to blame for delays that have put the project five years behind schedule.

The dam was initially supposed to have been finished in 2018, but an initial two turbines are now due to start generating 750 MW each in December 2020.

The entire dam is due to be completed by 2022, Ethiopia’s water minister Seleshi Bekele has said.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Salini Costruttori, a subsidiary of Salini Impregilo; GE Hydro France, China Gezhouba Group Corp, Voith Hydro Shanghai and China's Sinohydro Corp (construction contract); Alstom (turbine and generators).

On Budget and on Time?
The project has been delayed by five years.

Contact Details for Project Information
EEPCo, tel +251 11 1 55 95 67, fax +251 11 1 57 1860 or email eepcocommunication@yahoo.com.