Despite opposition, Ethiopia begins power generation from Nile

 Much awaited power generation project started in Ethiopia as the mega-dam constructed above the Blue Nile begins to source power for the African country. 

The first time since 2011, when the construction of the dam started, the power of its source was from Sunday, as per the local news network. The mega project that has been one of the major reasons for the rift between Ethiopia and Egypt, Sudan is in place only after the country invested in huge numbers for it. 

It is a $4.2 billion dollar project and the fact that it took 10 whole years to construct and be operations sucked even more money than required. 

Sudan and Egypt were completely against the idea of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as these two countries feared that with the dam in between, their supply of Nile water will be constrained. 

The Nile reaches these two countries after Ethiopia which means that they are part of the downstream but with the dam in place, the flow of the river will be greatly affected, however, Ethiopian officials claim otherwise. 

Ethiopia has been fighting a battle against many countries for this dam, which it believes is extremely important for its development. Not only for Ethiopia but for the whole of Africa, the dam being operational is a massive announcement as this is the biggest hydroelectric project to date in the water-deprived continent. 

Through this project, it is expected that the country will be generating over 5,000 megawatts of electricity which means that the output will be doubled from the current one. The state-owned new channel detailed the statistics saying that the dam is 83.9% complete and some of the work is still pending. 

The government feels positive about the dam. Senior leaders have been asserting time and again that the dam will change the national economy which is at the brink of total collapse due to years of war within the region as well as with the climate.

 Ethiopia is a dry country and has been struggling to fight drought and hence officials feel that this dam is a permanent solution to their issues.