Water Minister says progress of GERD Construction on schedule

ADDIS ABABA – The Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Seleshi Bekele said the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is progressing well as per the plan.

The minister said this on Friday a day after officials from his ministry, the Ethiopian Electric Power and the contractors of the project made on-site evaluation.

“The construction progress of GERD is on schedule and as planned,” the minister announced.

Seleshi extended his appreciation to thousands of construction workers, consultants and others for their support mobilized around the dam.

Officials plan to carry out a second round filling of the dam’s reservoir the current rainy season as per the time scheduled.

With 80% complete to date, Ethiopia plans to begin generating power from the dam during the current rainy season.

The $4.6 billion Dam is expected to collect 13.5 billion cubic meters of the Blue Nile River water in the rainy season, swelling its reservoir to 18.4 billion cubic meters, according to country’s officials.