Yesterday, Ethiopia officially announced the start of operation of the second turbine of the Renaissance dam.
Ethiopian Radio Fana stated that the commissioning ceremony for the second turbine was held in the presence of senior government officials and that the “ninth block” of the dam will start producing 270 megawatts of electricity, noting that the tenth block is currently generating the same amount, bringing the total capacity is 540 megawatts.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed announced from the site of the Great Ethiopian Revival Dam the opening of the third lake fill dam from the Cuba region in the Benishangul Gemiz region of western Ethiopia.
He added that 22 billion cubic meters of water was poured into the Renaissance Dam lake without harming the downstream countries, as he put it.
This came after Egypt warned in a letter to the UN Security Council that there were cracks in the concrete façade of the sub-dam associated with the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, stressing that it was of particular concern due to Ethiopia’s failure to meet its obligation to carry out the necessary environmental and social economic impact studies.
The letter, sent by Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel-Ati, focused on Ethiopia’s unilateral decision to fill the third backfill of the Renaissance Dam, according to local media.
