<
#Araweelo_News_Network
Addis Ababa (ANN)- Ethiopia said it has more than doubled electricity production from its controversial mega-dam on the Blue Nile after two more turbines started operations.
Ethiopia’s government says it has doubled the power output of the controversial Blue Nile dam, after two of the turbines started up. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) which costs billions of dollars.
The issue has long been the focus of tensions between Egypt and Sudan.
The plant is currently generating 1,550 megawatts of electricity, GERD said in a statement late Tuesday.
“The overall progress of the GERD has now passed from the construction phase to the operational phase,” the statement said, adding that the construction of the concrete dam has now been completed.
“The two turbines produce 400MW each and have just started their operations, adding the two turbines that were already in operation that produced 375MW each, the total is 1,550MW.” as added by the statement of the Ethiopian government which for the first time started to generate electricity from the dam in February 2022. As predicted, it is expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts, which is more than double Ethiopia’s current production.
Egypt and Sudan have expressed concern over the operation of the dam while a tripartite agreement has not yet been reached, fearing that it will endanger the important Nile waterway.
Addis Ababa sees the GERD as necessary for electricity and the development of the second most populous country in Africa.
The new plan coincided with Ethiopia at a time when the Egyptian government transferred the conflict on the Somali side by sending troops to Somalia.
This new plan comes at a time when the Egyptian government has transferred the conflict to Somalia as the troops sent to Somalia have expressed concern to the diplomats of the western countries, warning that the Egyptian troops heading to Somalia may bring back the conflictbetween Ethiopia and Somalia.as well.
The Ethiopian government’s plans for the GERD coincided with the arrival of the Egyptian military planes C-130 in Mogadishu in the last few days, which intensified the tension.
The two planes are related to the news that they were carrying military equipment and supplies that were sent to the Egyptian government forces to Somalia, and it was planned to send 10,000 of its soldiers to Somalia, which they to have replaced the peacekeeping African Union ATMIS, in Somalia.
Written by Arraale M. Jama, a freelance journalist and human rights activist.
info@araweelonews.com