The announcement comes a day after Ethiopia said it had started power production from the second turbine at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in the west of the country. “As you can see behind me today, the third fill is complete,” Abiy said in pictures shown on state television of the dam construction site. Cairo and Khartoum consider it a threat due to their dependence on Nile water, while Ethiopia considers it essential for the electrification and development of Africa’s second most populous country. The filling process of the GERD’s huge reservoir with a total capacity of 74 billion cubic meters started in 2020. The 145-meter (475-foot) structure spans the Blue Nile in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of western Ethiopia, near the border with Sudan.

Source: Ethiopian News August 12, 2022 12:29 UTC