Progress of GERD project promising, says Standing Committee

Addis Ababa, December 23, 2019 (FBC) –The Natural Resource, Irrigation and Energy Affairs Standing Committee of the Parliament has visited the progress of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project.

During the visit, members of the committee were briefed on the current status of the project by Engineer Kifle Horo, general manager of the project

About 70% of the works on the project has been completed, the manager told the committee. The project is scheduled to be fully completed in 2023.

Works on units 9 and 10, the two turbines that were planned to generate power ahead of full completion of the project, are also progressing well, he said.

According to Engineer Kifle, the two turbines are expected to generate a total of 750MW of electricity early in 2021.

The country has so far spent 99 billion birr on GERD project and additional 40 billion are needed to finish the project, the general manager noted.

Members of the committee expressed their satisfaction with what they saw at the project site and said that “the progress of the project is now promising.”

The committee, however, underscored the need to address some problems raised by workers as well as questions for infrastructure and compensation by farmers.