An Egyptian water expert: Running electricity in Renaissance Dam will not benefit Ethiopia and will increase tensions in relations with Egypt and Sudan

Water resources and geology expert Abbas Sharaki said that Ethiopia’s generation of electricity at the Renaissance Dam is a step that will not harm Egypt or Sudan, that Ethiopia will not benefit from water and electricity, but it raises tensions.

Sharaki announced that Ethiopia’s electricity generation at the Renaissance Dam will increase tensions between Egypt and Sudan on the one hand and Ethiopia on the other, as it takes place without an agreement.

He added that this step would not benefit Ethiopia either, as the capacity of each of the two turbines that Ethiopia started operating to generate electricity from the Renaissance Dam is 375 megawatts in full operation with a water column 80 meters above the dam. The highest elevation of the lake will be 640 meters and the lowest elevation of the lake will be 560 meters above sea level and will operate two turbines.

The current level of the lake is about 575 meters, only a 15-meter column of water; This produces electricity in the range of only 100 megawatts, which is a very small amount and the water column will gradually decrease until the turbines stop, so it will run maybe a few hours a week.

“Despite being opened, you haven’t seen any images confirming the outflow of water into the catchment pond, which should look like a fountain,” he continued.

The operation will divert water passing from the top of the middle passage into the turbine tunnels, which will cause it to dry out in a few days, after which it will be possible to raise the midway by a few meters. a modest third storage, but the Ethiopian government will encourage it by completing it, as with the second storage, which does not exceed three billion cubic meters.

He stressed that in the event of the operation, all of the second storage water that took place last season will come to Sudan and Egypt in the next few months, provided Ethiopia compensates for the period July 1-20 to bring the total storage. about 10 billion cubic meters.

Ethiopia today, the Nile’in started generating electricity from the giant Renaissance Dam, which it built on an important branch, and Prime Minister Abi Ahmed congratulated the public for the “birth of a new era” in development.
Source: Al-Shorouk newspaper