Addis Ababa, August 11, 2022 (Walta) Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed turned on the ninth unit of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) so that it can start producing 270 megawatts.
It means Ethiopia has harnessed 270 megawatts of power from the second turbine that goes operational today.
The dam’s first turbine which started producing electricity on the 20th of February 2022, unit 10 for the first time, has been delivering 270 Mega Watt of hydropower making the total power generated from GERD so far well over 540 megawatts.
In a speech the premier made before launching Unit Nine, he said that Ethiopians who manage to see this happen are happy.
“Realizing GERD is realizing the dreams of our forefathers for thousands of years. We are lucky enough to realize that,” he said.
While addressing the downstream countries of concern, the Premier said that Ethiopia has no bad intention of harming Egypt and Sudan.
“Downstream countries will not be harmed by GERD. Indeed, they will benefit from it,” said the PM.
The largest hydroelectric dam in Africa is so far 83.3 percent overall complete. The civil work is 95 percent of has been completed while the electromechanical work is 61 percent completed according to Kifle Horo, GERD Project Engineer.
The dam height has reached 600 meters above sea level while holding back more than 22 billion cubic meters of water in the dam reservoir.
When completed in 2024, the dam will power the Ethiopian and African economies with over 6000 megawatts of power.