Addis Ababa is not wavering in the face of pressure from Egypt, Sudan and part of the international community over the construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The project has reached a milestone with the commissioning of the 1st Francis turbine at the hydropower plant located 500 km northwest of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in the Benishangul-Gumuz regional state.
The 375 MW 1st turbine of the GERD hydropower plant feeds its output into Ethiopia’s national power grid. The hydroelectric dam is being built on the Blue Nile, a river that originates at Lake Tana in the Ethiopian highlands and combines with the White Nile from the Great Lakes region to form the Nile. The GERD project is being carried out by Webuild, formerly Salini Impregilo. Italy’s leading construction and public works group is building a 175 m high and 1,800 m long gravity dam.
