Ethiopia's $5B hydro dam on Nile goes operational

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Nile went operational after the Ethiopian prime minister inaugurated it on Sunday.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, accompanied by higher officials, senior military officers, and eminent personalities, cut the ribbon inaugurating the $5billion hydro project in a ceremony broadcast live on local TV channels.

The GERD, Ethiopia’s flagship project being built solely through money raised by citizens, will be initially generating 750 megawatts of electricity of the project’s 6,000 megawatts installed capacity that will be achieved within five to seven years when the dam’s reservoir gets full to its 70 billion cubic meters capacity.