Third-Phase GERD Filling Wraps Up

Aug 13 , 2022

The third phase of filling the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) wrapped up last week. The reservoir has thus far stored 22 billion cubic metres of water, less than a third of its total capacity of 74 billion cubic metres. Two of the Dam's 13 turbines are operational, generating 540mw of power. When the Dam begins operating at full capacity, each turbine will generate 375 megawatts of power. The dam first began generating electricity in February this year. A decade ago, the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi launched the construction of Africa’s largest dam in the village of Guba, some 20Km from the Sudanese border. Ethiopia's power generating capacity remains at 4,300mw, 90pc of which comes from hydropower dams located on nine of its major rivers.