The dam has strained Ethiopia’s relations with Egypt and to some extent Sudan
ADDIS ABABA, Oct 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ethiopia’s dam on the Blue Nile will produce electricity within the next 12 months, Pres Sahle-Work Zewde said.
She was echoing comments from other officials earlier in the year.
There are already 4.9 billion cubic metres in the reservoir sitting behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) after the first year of filling.
This means that the water level has reached the height of the first two turbines.
When completed in the next few years, Gerd will be the largest hydro-electric plant on the continent.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia has banned flights in its airspace over the GERD for security reasons, according to the privately-owned Reporter website.
“The director-general of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation, Col Wesenyeleh Hunegnaw, told Reporter that following consultations with relevant security organs, the airspace in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State [north-western Ethiopia] where the dam is being built is closed to all flights,” the report said.
He said no passenger or cargo planes will be allowed to fly over the dam, but permission could be issued on request.
The air force commander, Maj Gen Yilma Merdasa, also warned last week that the air force had modernised its fighter jets and was capable of defending the dam from any enemy attack.
The controversial dam has strained Ethiopia’s relations with Egypt and to some extent Sudan. — NNN-AGENCIES
