Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Begins Power Production, Threatening Egypt’s Water

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the Blue Nile in 2016 during construction (Flickr).

Ethiopia turned on the first 375 megawatt turbine in its $4.2 Billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on February 20. The GERD, when fully operational, will be the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa, producing around 5.2 gigawatts for the rapidly growing Ethiopian population. During the inauguration of the dam, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed remarked that “Ethiopia’s main interest is to bring light to 60 percent of the population who is suffering in darkness.”

Ethiopia has the second-largest population in Africa, behind only Nigeria, with 115 million people. Ethiopia also has the second-largest electricity deficit in Africa according to the World Bank, with about two-thirds of the population lacking connection to the electricity grid.  The Advisor on Transboundary Rivers and GERD in Ethiopia, Seleshi Bekele, said he hopes the GERD will provide 65 million people with power. 

The GERD is located in the Northwestern Ethiopian region of Benishangul-Gumuz on the Blue Nile, a tributary of the Nile about 15 kilometers from the Sudanese border. The Blue Nile, after leaving Ethiopia, travels through Sudan where it meets with the White Nile to create the Nile that continues through Egypt. Egypt and Sudan both rely heavily on the Blue Nile for water but none more than the former. Ninety-seven percent of all drinking water and irrigation in Egypt comes from the Nile and 95 percent of the Egyptian population lives along the river. When speaking to the United Nations in September 2019, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pronounced that “The Nile is a question of life, a matter of existence to Egypt.'' 

Given the reliance of Sudan and Egypt on the Nile, both countries view the GERD as a threat. Sudan has some hope that the GERD will regulate the intense flooding that often occurs along the Nile, but Egypt fears that the water required for energy production will threaten its agreed upon water share of about 55.5 billion cubic meters. 

Since the beginning of the project in 2011, Egypt and Sudan have criticized the creation of the dam because of a 1959 colonial treaty that gives exclusive rights over the river to Sudan and Egypt. In negotiations between the three countries, Ethiopia has rejected this treaty leading to the creation of a Declaration of Principles signed in 2015 in Darfur, Sudan that outlines principles for water sharing and the stated goals for the creation of the GERD. Egypt has criticized Ethiopia throughout the construction process for violating terms of the Declaration of Principles. After Ethiopia turned on the dam, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that Ethiopia violated Articles 1 and 2 of the Declaration of Principles. Article 1 outlines the Principle of Cooperation that the three countries must cooperate based on the “ upstream and downstream water needs in various aspects.” Article 2 states the purpose of the GERD is for only power production and economic development. Sudan’s government has not issued a statement as of yet. 

The Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia responded to the criticism with a tweet on February 21, saying “we want to collaborate with Egypt and Sudan. As promised, we are generating energy and releasing pure water.” Egypt and Sudan hope that the three countries can come to an agreement on the parameters relating to water flow through the GERD. However, after more than 10 years of negotiations and with the GERD 82 percent finished, Keith Johnson, a Senior Staff Writer at Foreign Policy Magazine, argues that “An agreement is technically possible—but politics in both Egypt and Ethiopia have gotten in the way.”