In an event which has been heard around the world, Ethiopia is now producing power from the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Within hours of the launch ceremony, Sunday, Feb. 20, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s statement that, “From now on, there will be nothing that will stop Ethiopia,” was reported by AP, Reuters, CGTN and India Times. Officially, the dam is now producing a mere 375 MW of power, having started only one of its 13 generators. It is estimated that it may be another two years before the dam (now said to be 84% complete) is fully operational, with an expected output of over 5,000MW of power.
Begun in 2011, the $4.2 billion dam has had to fight for every inch of its 145 meter height, which now holds back a reservoir of 2.3 billion cubic feet of water behind it. Efforts to stop the dam had relied on a 1921 agreement between (then British-controlled) Egypt, and (then British-controlled) Sudan, which gave Egypt control of the Nile waters, effective veto-power on upstream construction. The agreement was later set in concrete by a “treaty” between the two British possessions, in 1959.
