የውሃ መስኖ እና ኢነርጂ ሚኒስቴር GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM

Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy PROJECT TRIPARTITE CONSULTATION ISSUES

CONSULTATION ISSUES

1 BACKGROUND 3 MAJOR BENEFITS

The vision of the Water, Irrigation and Energy Sector is to see an
Ethiopia where water, food and energy supply is secured for all by
2030.
Ethiopia’s Water and Energy Development Challenges:
• High rate of poverty head ratio (about 21% below poverty line)
• Low access to basic services (65million with no access to
Electricity)
• High population growth put stress on the basin resources
• High seasonal and inter-annual flow variability requiring water
storage infrastructures
• Low adaptive capacity to climate shocks
• Low level of land and water productivity
• Land degradation, soil loss and sedimentation
2 MAIN FEATURES OF GERD AND BLUE NILE BASIN
Sudd
Energy: GERD generates 15692 GWh per annum that supply energy
demand of the Ethiopian economy and the region. It will reduce
carbon emission by replacing thermal power plants.
Fishery: 74 BMC water storage can serve as new investment
opportunity in the fishery industry.
Tourism: The storage can open new tourist destination in Ethiopia by
creating new opportunities for water-based recreation.
Sediment Trap: The reservoir will play significant role in reducing and
protecting sediment flow to the downstream & increase the service
life of the hydraulic structures and reduce sediment dredging cost.
Reducing Evaporation: The loss of water in the form of evaporation
will significantly reduce due to the high-altitude advantage Ethiopian
has and provide new water downstream.

Flow Regulation: High seasonal variability will be reduced due to the

regulated flow release of the reservoir. It will protect Sudan from
flood hazards. Egypt & Sudan benefit from storage during drought.

Energy Uplift: Sudan hydro facilities can more than double plant
factors and result in huge economic benefit

Regional Significance: GERD facilitates regional integration in power

pool and build trust among the riparian countries.

Saddle dam: rock fill &

concrete faced; height=50m;
length 5200m(completed)

Gravity Dam: roller-compacted

concrete (RCC); Length 1.8km
height=170m/145m from
datum

Turbines:11x400MW
+2x375MW
5150MW (planned)
Annual generation
15692GWh(planned)

4 FILLING AND OPERATIONAL PLANS

Internationally Accepted Principles Followed
Guiding Principles: Equitable and reasonable utilization of shared
water resources while taking all appropriate measures to prevent
PROJECT PROGRESS (2020) causing significant harm;
Civil works 91.2% Adaptive Principle: Filling mechanism that could be accelerated or
Hydro-steel structure 53.6% decelerated depending on the hydrological conditions of the year;
Electro-mechanical 52.7% Cooperative Principle: Filling mechanism that adjust to seasonality
Overall Progress 79% and delay of filling during extreme events.
Ministry of Water, Irrigation & Energy; P.O.Box: 5744; Tel:+251-116627004;
Haile Gebereselassie Avenue E-mail: mowie@ethionet.et; Web: http//mowie.gov.et
 የውሃ መስኖ እና ኢነርጂ ሚኒስቴር
Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy
Filling Schedule: (4-7 years filling plan)
Stage-based filling plan formulated by National Independent
Scientific Research Group (NISRG) composed of 5 experts from each
of the three countries of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.
5. CONSULTATION PROCESSES & CHALLENGES
Phase 1: International Panel of Experts (May 2012-May 2013)
Established in May 2012 and submitted its report in May 2013
Phase 2: Tripartite National Committee 2013-2016 (DOP 2015) 12
members; 4 members from each of the three countries established
by water affairs ministers
Phase 3- Nine ministers party and national scientific research group
(2017-2018) Submission of filling and operation plan by Ethiopia
[2017]; Establishment of NISRG [15 members 5 from each of the
three countries]; Submission of study results to water affairs
ministers in September 2018 [Egypt refused to accept the
recommendations of the NISRG]; Egypt submitted on 1st August 2019
new proposal-rejected by Ethiopia and later Egypt withdrew its unfair
proposal.
Phase 4: Third Party Involvement (Nov. 2019-Feb. 2020)-12 meetings
Egypt appealed at the 74th UN GA for the involvement of the
international community; Egypt Requested the US and the WB to
mediate, Ethiopia accepted to participate on condition US & WB
participate as observers
Phase 5: COVID 19 -virtual trilateral negotiations (June 9-17)
Phase 6: Africa Union Involvement (3rd July 2020 –10th January 2021)
7 meetings including two bureau meetings held.
6. CHALLENGES AND UNREASONABLE CLAIMS OF
DOWNSTREAM COUNTRIES
• Sudan’s claim that the first stage filling causes risk to its
population is not substantiated. To the contrary GERD protected
the Sudanese population from more floods of 2020 and in future
provides more resilient and flood managed Sudan.
Ministry of Water, Irrigation & Energy; P.O.Box: 5744; Tel:+251-116627004;
Haile Gebereselassie Avenue E-mail: mowie@ethionet.et; Web: http//mowie.gov.et
GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM
PROJECT TRIPARTITE CONSULTATION ISSUES
CONSULTATION ISSUES
• The repeated narrative of Egypt and Sudan that Ethiopia
unilaterally filled the dam in the rainy season of 2020 is not true.
The three countries have agreed that the stage-based construction
of the dam is inseparable from the staged based filling according
to Principle 5 of the DoP. The three countries have also agreed on
the schedule of filling and there is no requirement for additional
agreement. The second phase filling retaining additional 13.5BCM
will proceed in July and August of 2021 accordingly.
• Rosaries Dam has a storage capacity of about 7 BCM, can
accommodate about 450 MCM daily variability and serves as a
safety guard for all water supply systems downstream of it. Whilst
Sudan complained about water shortage downstream of Rosaries
during GERD filling in July 2020, records show that Sudan has
handled low flows in July of 1966, 1984, 1988, 2002, 2005 and
2010 below what was recorded for July 2020.
• The Sudanese modeling team, which includes the current water
Affairs minister of Sudan, conformed that the filling of GERD in July
and August will have no impact for any of Water supply and
management of Sudan. GERD fulfills all safety standards and is
appreciated by the experts of the two downstream countries.
7. WAY FORWARD
Ethiopia respects the agreement on Declaration of Principles (DOP)
and is also committed to conclude the trilateral negotiation under
the auspices of the African Union. The GERDP is financed by the
people and government of Ethiopia for the benefit of Ethiopians and
the region. Unfair claim of the entire Nile water, and protecting the
status quo caused significant harm on Ethiopia’s quest for
development. Ethiopia negotiates for equitable and reasonable
utilization without causing significant harm to its downstream
neighbours.
640 FSL
590
MOL
545 m
518 m