ETHIOPIA: The Ethiopian government announced that it had completed the fourth and final filling of the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Reuters reported on 10 September.
The GERD’s fourth filling completes phase one of the reservoir’s progress with about 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water, or about 70 percent of the reservoir’s capacity. The government plans to leave the remaining capacity dependent on the seasons, with the GERD reaching full capacity at the height of the rainy season and then returning to 70 percent of capacity in the drier months, meaning that the manual filling of the reservoir is complete.
Upon completion, the GERD will create electrification, development and financial opportunities for Ethiopia, as it is expected to generate sufficient electricity to meet domestic demand and for export to neighbouring Kenya and Djibouti. Recall that Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan concluded two days of negotiations on the filling of the GERD without significant progress in late August. Talks will continue in Addis Ababa later in September. (Bloomberg)
