ADDIS ABABA– Some 98 percent of the 254 MW Genale Dawa III dam has been completed said the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP).
The Project will start operation soon after undergoing a pilot test. Haimanot Gebeyehu Acting Communication Director at EEP told The Ethiopian Herald that the hydropower will commence as of two or three months after receiving confirmation.
The dam project whose concrete face rockfill is 110 meters high and with crust length with 426 meters was commenced in 2010/11 on the Genale Dawa River. The dam’s average annual capacity of generating power is 1640 Gigawatt Hours.
The Genale Dawa III hydropower dam has the capacity to hold 2.6 million cubic meters of water and generate 254MW with three turbines generating 84 .7 Megawatt each.
The project, built on the Genale-Dawa River at a cost of 451million USD, will raise the country’s electricity installed generating capacity.
60 percent of the cost is a loan gained from the Chinese Exim Bank while the Ethiopian government financed the rest.
Situated in the Oromia State on 640 meters above sea level and 630 Km away from the capital Addis Ababa, the dam is connected with the 400 Kilovolt Yirgaalem power distribution station.
So far works of drilling 12.4 Km power intake and 380-meter long water release tunnel have been finalized.
The Chinese based CGGC is in charge of the civil and electromechanical works while the USA based MWH and two domestic companies, Acute and Integrated, are in charge of the consultancy.
Currently, the project has created job opportunities for 390 Ethiopians.
The Ethiopian Herald October 3, 2019
BY LAKACHEW ATINAFU
