BY ADDISALEM MULAT
Before reaching the current millstone, the full journey of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been accompanied by a diverse range of confrontations on the grounds that the downstream nations have been coming up with layers of factious stories that do not reflect the prevailing actuality on the ground.
As the downstream nations have been plotting intrigues time and time again to perpetuate what they called historical water share, Ethiopia turned out to be victorious over its arch enemies. For the sake of truth, the journey was full of opportunities and obstacles, positive and negative effects, good periods and bad periods, and other unforgettable challenges. To put it in a nutshell, attaining the desired goal was not a walk in the park or low-hanging fruit.
No matter how hard Ethiopia’s arch foes attempted to halt the construction of the flagship project and turn the table on Ethiopia, the latter turned out to be victorious over the downstream nations sooner rather than later. Needless to say, the successful construction of the dam managed to dry the tears of Ethiopians that have been full of remorse.
In times gone by, Ethiopians on many occasions have been conveying their remorse making use of poems, songs, stories, and other writes up. However, through the passage of time, through the concerted efforts of Ethiopians and the commitment of the incumbent, the long-awaited dreams of the population as a whole embarked on bearing fruit against all odds by creating a brand new chapter of hope for Ethiopia and the continent of Africa.
It is an undeniable fact that apart from connecting millions of Ethiopians that have been living in the blackout to the power grid, Africans will largely benefit from the dam beyond a shadow of a doubt.
As Ethiopia’s advertisers have been working with the now discredited international media outlets and other major internal and external actors around the clock to thwart the construction of the game changer project, they failed to attain the desired goal as a consequence of the concerted efforts of Ethiopians residing at home and abroad.
Notwithstanding the fact that Ethiopia familiarized the international community with the fact that it has been utilizing the Nile River devoid of causing any harm to the downstream nations, the looked-for aim has not been achieved as one would expect in view of the fact that they have not been in the position to lend their ears.
In the fullness of time, having passed through many highs and lows Ethiopia ended up generating electricity from the game changer project.
In earlier times, in the aftermath of the conspiracies of the terrorist TPLF group, the flagship project had been getting sidetracked and getting off track. However, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power, he set in motion getting the dam back on track in a little while. As a matter of fact, on the heels of the commitment and hard work of the incumbent, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been reaching the desired destination at the earliest possible time.
Despite westerners’ layers of conspiracies and continuous unwarranted foreign pressure, the government’s unreserved efforts managed to bear fruit in the shortest possible time. Other than that the population as a whole has contributed a huge amount of money to the construction of the colossal dam taking part in a range of fundraising activities.
There were cacophonies from downstream nations and the international community and despite Ethiopia’s unreserved effort to utilize the Nile River equitably and reasonably devoid of instigating any significant harm to downstream nations by applying the fundamental principle that has been acknowledged internationally.
Following the commencement of the second turbine electric generation, a number of experts, scholars, influential people, and others have been expressing their happiness.
Commenting on the second turbine of GERD’s unit 9 power production, Water Researcher and PhD Candidate at Florida International University Mekdelawit Deribe said that the commencement of the production of power with a capacity of 270 MW of electricity is a big milestone for Ethiopia.
“The first turbine went operational a few months back and now the second turbine is commenced and the two turbines together installed capacity total potential to produce energy is 375 megawatts each that’s 750 megawatts total.”
“The energy generated by the two turbines is huge that is more than most of the dams that we already have in Ethiopia, Tekeze, Gibe I and II dams. It is more than all the other smaller dams except Gilgel Gibe III. Most of the dams that are operational in Ethiopia are producing less power than the two turbines and for Ethiopia it is going to be monumental,” she said.
In Ethiopia, the quality of life is low and energy consumption is low too. Every person uses around 100 kilowatt-hours of energy per year and this is a very low number as compared to developed countries or even developing countries, as to her.
“As a country we have around 40 percent energy access and our energy usage is around 100 Kilowatt- hours per capital which is far from Egypt’s annual per capital of 1,500 per year. The impact of these two turbines in changing the quality of lives of the society is going to be far reaching and the project is very transformational,” she indicated.
Apart from changing the livelihood of those Ethiopians who are in abject poverty, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will help neighboring countries obtain electricity with affordable prices, so said Fekahmed Negash (Eng.), a well-known water expert speaking to the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA), Fekahmed noted that when the construction of the GERD is fully completed, the electricity generated from the dam is expected to play an important role in meeting the ever-increasing demand for power in Ethiopia and other countries.
As to him, revenue from electricity export would make a significant contribution to the country’s economic growth. Fekahmed also explained that by meeting the electric power needs of the manufacturing industries and other businesses, it would boost Ethiopia’s development and create improvements in living standards of a given family.
Although the lower riparian countries of the Nile (Abbay) River have been working to maintain their previous hydro-hegemony status quo, Ethiopians are building the mega dam using their sovereign right as the river is found under the sovereign territory of Ethiopia, he further stated.
The lower riparian countries, particularly Egypt, have also been opposing the construction of the dam and working to disrupt the filling of the dam’s reservoir, he said adding, that they have repeatedly been seen taking the issue to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) pretending as the issue is an international threat.
However, it is very clear that the water that Ethiopia now holds in the dam does not affect the lower riparian countries and it works in consultation with these countries. And, they should not be threatened at all, since the main purpose of the dam is to generate power, according to him.
“Recently, Egypt sent a letter to the UNSC opposing Ethiopia’s third-round filling of the dam, and I believe that the Council would refer the issue to the African Union as usual,” Fekahmed also indicated.
Delivering their congratulatory messages on the inauguration ceremony of power generation from the second turbine of the GERD, the administrators said that the performance of the dam is the result of commitment of government officials and unity among peoples of the country towards GERD.
Gambella State Chief Administrator Umed Ujulu said that the power-generating launching of the second turbine of the dam manifests the capability of the Ethiopian people to do anything if they collaborate.
On his part, Dire-Dawa City Administration Mayor Kedir Jawar said that this is a great win for all Ethiopian people and called upon all fellow citizens continue their contributions to finalize the construction of the dam.
He vowed that his administration will continue its coordination activities towards the work of the dam. Harari People State Chief Administrator Ordin Bedri also appreciated the effort of reform government and the Ethiopian people saying that it is great victory for the country.
He stressed that though the GERD project has encountered with internal and external challenges the country has enabled to generate the power from the second turbine through paying great sacrifices.
Afar State Chief Administrator Awel Arba said that power generating of the dam has more social, political and economic interpretation adding that the issue of the GERD is not only generating power but also it is the issue of sovereignty.
Expressing his happiness towards the performance of the dam, he said that it is the second Adwa victory at which Ethiopians have reflected their unity and love for their country. He said that it is great happiness for Ethiopian people and friends of Ethiopia
The Ethiopian Herald 14 August 2022
