Ethiopia finishes the Nile dam that can enhance its electrical energy output

[ad_1] ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s prime minister mentioned Thursday {that a} controversial energy dam on the Nile is now full, a significant milestone for his nation amid a dispute with Egypt over equitable sharing of the water.

Egypt has lengthy opposed the dam due to considerations it will deplete its share of Nile River waters. Egypt has referred to the dam, generally known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, as an existential menace as a result of the Arab world’s most populous nation depends virtually totally on the Nile to produce water for agriculture and its greater than 100 million folks.

Negotiations between Ethiopia and Egypt through the years haven't led to a pact, and questions stay about how a lot water Ethiopia will launch downstream if a drought happens.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his tackle to lawmakers Thursday, mentioned his authorities is “making ready for its official inauguration” in September.

“Whereas there are those that imagine it must be disrupted earlier than that second, we reaffirm our dedication: the dam will probably be inaugurated,” he mentioned.

Abiy mentioned his nation “stays dedicated to making sure that our development doesn't come on the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We imagine in shared progress, shared power, and shared water,” he mentioned. “Prosperity for one ought to imply prosperity for all.”

Ethiopia and Egypt have been trying to find an agreement for years over the $4 billion dam, which Ethiopia started constructing in 2011. Tensions over the dam, the biggest in Africa, as soon as had been so excessive that some observers feared the 2 international locations would possibly go to battle over it.

However Ethiopia gained the diplomatic assist of upstream nations reminiscent of Uganda, dwelling to a regional partnership of 10 international locations that final 12 months signed an accord on the equitable use of water resources from the Nile River basin.

The accord of the partnership, generally known as the Nile Basin Initiative, got here into drive in October with out being ratified by Egypt or Sudan.

The dam, on the Blue Nile close to the Sudan border, started producing energy in 2022. The mission is anticipated to in the end produce over 6,000 megawatts of electrical energy, which is double Ethiopia’s present output and sufficient to make the East African nation of 120 million a internet power exporter.

The dam is positioned about 500 kilometers (311 miles) northwest of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. It's 1,800 meters lengthy and 175 meters excessive, and is backed by a reservoir that may maintain as much as 74 billion cubic meters of water, in accordance with the primary contractor.

Ethiopia insists the dam is an important growth that can assist pull thousands and thousands of its residents out of poverty and grow to be a significant energy exporter.

It was not instantly doable to get a remark from Egypt, which has lengthy asserted its rights to Nile water in accordance with the phrases of a colonial-era settlement.

The agreement between Egypt and the United Kingdom gave downstream Egypt and Sudan rights to the Nile water, with Egypt taking the bulk.

That settlement, first signed in 1929, took no account of the opposite nations alongside the river basin which have demanded a extra equitable accord.

___ Muhumuza contributed from Kampala, Uganda.

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