In a press conference in Addis Ababa Ethiopia’s capital, Sileshi Beleke, Minister for water, irrigation and energy described Egypt’s plan, which includes the volume of water it wants the dam to release annually as inappropriate. According to Mr. Sileshi, Egypt wants the level of water at the Aswan dam to remain at 165m of height.
In 2011, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was designed to be the centerpiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter, generating more than 6 Gigawatts.
The dam has been the center of disagreements between Ethiopia and Egypt as the two countries disagree over the annual flow of water guaranteed to Egypt and how to manage flows during drought periods.
Egypt gets around 90% of its freshwater from the Nile and wants the GERD’s reservoir to release a higher volume of water than Ethiopia is willing to give, among other disagreements. The dam promises economic benefits for both Ethiopia and Sudan, but Egypt fears it will restrict the already stretched water from the Nile. Egypt uses the Nile for drinking water, agriculture, and industry. Egypt wants the dam to release a minimum of 40 billion cubic meters of water from GERD annually.
Ethiopia’s water and energy minister said that the GERD dam would start production by the end of 2020 and be operational by 2022.
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