The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: The Most Powerful Dam in Africa
When dams are created, they have the potential to increase access to water and create safer environments. Besides being the longest river in the world, The Nile River is a major source of water for many countries in Africa, such as Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan. Thus, the construction of a dam along the Nile stands as a significant project.
In 1964, the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia underwent its first site survey. In 2009, it went through its second survey, confirming the need for a dam. Once the project was confirmed, the Ethiopian government kept the design plans secret under the name of “Project X”. This dam will significantly benefit the people of Ethiopia, but not so much for the people of Egypt and Sudan.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will regulate the flow of water to enhance agriculture. This dam will also be able to reduce the evaporation of water in Ethiopia because it will lower the amount of water flowing into other dams in the country, therefore lowering the amount of evaporated water by other dams. As floods in countries near the Nile river are very common, this dam will reduce the amount of floods in Ethiopia. Not only will the dam serve as a conservation of water, it will also serve as bridge across the Blue Nile. The Renaissance Dam is expected to have a capacity of 6,000 megawatts. Due to power and capacity this dam is expected to have, it will become “the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa” (“Top 10 construction projects for 2023”).
Not only is this dam being created to improve agriculture, but also to improve the lack of electricity in Ethiopia. The dam will allow for more light to brighten the country near the Nile river by generating energy for the country to use. Experts say the dam is expected to generate 6,500 megawatts of electricity, which would double the country’s energy output.
Though the dam will give major improvements to Ethiopia, it will majorly affect Sudan and Egypt. Since Egypt and Sudan are very reliant on the Nile as their main source of water, this new dam will be a problem for the two countries since it diverts the a lot of the water to Ethiopia. Despite the fact that the dam may lower the water accessibility, Syria supports the construction of the dam as it will reduce the amount of floods. However, Egypt is very against the construction of the dam as its government is focused on the decrease of water access in their country the dam will produce, as 97% of the of the population of Egypt live along the Nile river.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has the potential to be one of Africa’s biggest leaps in innovative construction projects, but it also has the potential to cause a lot of problems for other countries near Ethiopia. Even though that the dam very beneficial, it is also harmful to a lot of people and civilizations.
Sources:
Top 10 Construction Projects for 2023
