Key facts about the GERD – the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Hydropower uses moving water to generate electricity. In Ethiopia, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is currently being constructed. It is expected to reach a height of 145 metres high, which is nearly one-and-a-half times the height of Victoria Falls! There are some clear advantages to building the GERD, yet this large-scale project has certainly split opinions.

SOME FACTS ABOUT THE GERD

  • The reservoir is set to contain 74 billion cubic metres of water. This is around 13x Ethiopia’s total annual water consumption.
  • Ethiopia’s government expect the GERD to produce 6 Gigawatts (equal to 1 billion Watts, which is a unit of power) at peak output.
  • It is expected to almost triple Ethiopia’s electricity production.
  • Construction began in April 2011 and the final construction costs are a projected $6.4 billion US dollars.

IMPACT ON ENERGY

  • The GERD could significantly reduce energy poverty among around 75% of Ethiopians who lack access to electricity.
  • Deforestation may decline as there will be less need for fuels such as charcoal and wood.
  • It will reduce Ethiopia’s carbon emissions.

IMPACT ON BIODIVERSITY

  • As part of the project, a nature reserve is being created nearby the dam. This is designed to protect the area’s biodiversity.
  • The dam could limit the impact of extreme events (such as droughts and floods) which may be beneficial to certain species and their habitats.

SOCIAL IMPACT

  • The GERD is expected to develop local industry and provide jobs.
  • Hydrologists in Egypt and Sudan fear that the dam could harm farmers by reducing the Nile’s water flow in the two countries.
  • The reservoir may displace around 20,000 people.

IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE

  • Ethiopian agriculture could benefit from irrigation schemes that may be regulated by the dam.
  • The GERD could assist in preventing the annual flooding in Sudan. This flooding causes significant crop losses.
  • The extra water removed from the Nile may result in Egypt becoming unable to sustain all its agriculture.

IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY

  • The final construction costs are very expensive. The GERD is being entirely funded by the Ethiopian government (without international support).
  • Exporting energy to neighbouring countries (such as Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan) may provide a large amount of revenue for Ethiopia.

IMPACT ON WATER FLOW

  • The GERD is raising tensions between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over the management of the Nile’s shared waters.
  • There is fear that silt (fine material like sand or clay, the Nile is rich in this) may disrupt operations.
  • The dam is expected to cut evaporation loss from basins downstream. It is believed that this will happen as a result of lowering the water level.

MOLLY SIMPSON

VIEW ALL POSTS

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function create_function() in /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/framework/inc/sd-theme-functions/sd-functions.php:188 Stack trace: #0 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(326): sd_style_tag_cloud() #1 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php(205): WP_Hook->apply_filters() #2 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/category-template.php(778): apply_filters() #3 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-tag-cloud.php(60): wp_tag_cloud() #4 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-widget.php(394): WP_Widget_Tag_Cloud->widget() #5 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/widgets.php(837): WP_Widget->display_callback() #6 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/sidebar.php(26): dynamic_sidebar() #7 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/template.php(790): require_once('/home/213602.cl...') #8 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/template.php(725): load_template() #9 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/general-template.php(136): locate_template() #10 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/single.php(114): get_sidebar() #11 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/template-loader.php(106): include('/home/213602.cl...') #12 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-blog-header.php(19): require_once('/home/213602.cl...') #13 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/index.php(17): require('/home/213602.cl...') #14 {main} thrown in /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/framework/inc/sd-theme-functions/sd-functions.php on line 188
WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.