5 Things Egyptians should know about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

5 . What is Grand Ethiopian Renissance Dam (GERD) ??

GERD is a dam built by salini inpreglio construction company for the Ethiopian government on the Blue Nile River . I quote from the company’s page:

“At the end of the works, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be the largest dam in Africa: 1,800 m long, 170 m high and with a total volume of 70 billion m³.The power stations are positioned on the right and left banks of the river and comprise 16 Francis turbines with a total installed power of 6,000 MW and estimated production of 15,000 GWh per year.”

Work started in April 2011 and is expected to complete by July 2017.

4. Hmm ….Where is that ??

Well .. As we studied in schools (and probably don’t remember now), there are two main sources for the Nile : the White Nile and the Blue Nile , The GERD is planned to be built on the course of the Blue Nile near the borders with Sudan.

The Blue Nile is vital to the livelihood of Egypt.it contributes more than half of the Nile’s streamflow.

3. How much work is completed till now ??

According to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ethiopian Electric Power Engineer Azeb Worku in April 2014 :
“The construction of the dam is progression well without any problem with a great support of the people and government of Ethiopian people. The dam is now over 30% complete. “

2. How do Ethiopians think of Egypt’s political stance and Egyptians ??

Well… they clearly don’t like us

1. Ok… I skipped all the bla bla to here…How will GERD affect our lives in Egypt ??

First, go and check this animated timeline that I prepared to describe the problem: http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/gerd

Then, let’s do some simple Math:

GERD Capacity =70 billion m³

Ethiopians want to fill GERD in 5 years (the sooner they fill, the sooner electricity is generated) 70/5 = 14 billion m³ /year

Egyptian experts suggests that the dam to be filled in 15 years at least 70/15 = ~5 billion m³ /year

Egypt’s yearly average annual Nile flow according to 1959 treaty = 55.5 billion m³ /year

Effect of filling GERD in 5 years = 14/55.5 = 25% yearly loss for Egypt !

Effect of filling GERD in 15 years = 5/55.5 = 9% yearly loss for Egypt !

According to Egyptian experts that would cause 2,000,000 farmers to lose their income during the period of filling the reservoir, also production of Electricity from the High Dam will be reduced by 20% – 40% !