Rather from being a danger, Sudan and Egypt consider the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as a need for their respective countries' growth.
GERD, a vast hydroelectric facility on the Nile River that Ethiopia's neighbors Sudan and Egypt fear may result in serious water shortages downstream, began producing energy for the first time on Monday. GERD is the world's largest hydropower plant.
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On Sunday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed formally declared the start of energy generation from the mega-dam, marking a significant step forward in the contentious multibillion-dollar project.
When Abiy, accompanied by high-ranking officials, inspected the power generation station, authorities said he activated a sequence of buttons on an electronic screen, which they said signaled the start of production.
The prime minister attempted to reassure neighboring countries that his country had no intention of harming their interests by sending a message.
According to Abiy, "Ethiopia's major objective is to deliver light to the 60 percent of the population that is suffering in darkness, and to save the labor of our moms who are carrying wood on their backs in order to obtain energy."
This water, as you can see, will create electricity while flowing in the same direction that it has historically flowed to Sudan and Egypt, contrary to rumors that the Ethiopian people and government are damming the river in an attempt to starve Egypt and Sudan.
According to Egypt's foreign ministry, Ethiopia has "continued in its breaches" of a preliminary agreement struck between the three countries in 2015 that prohibits any of the parties from adopting unilateral steps over the usage of river water.
The filling of the dam was the source of the first infractions of the initial agreement, according to a statement issued by the ministry on Sunday.
Sudan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Even though the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is expected to be the greatest hydroelectric project in Africa when completed, has been at the center of a regional debate since Ethiopia launched construction on the project in 2011.
Addis Ababa believes the project is necessary for the country's electricity and growth, but Ethiopia's downstream neighbors Egypt and Sudan see it as a threat because of their reliance on Nile resources.
The $4.2 billion project is planned to produce more than 5,000 megawatts of power in the end, more than tripling Ethiopia's current electrical generation capacity.
State media reported on Sunday that one of the turbines at the 145-metre (475-foot) high dam, which is located on the Blue Nile River in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of western Ethiopia, not far from the border with Sudan, had begun generating 375 megawatts of electricity. The dam is located on the Blue Nile River in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of western Ethiopia, not far from the border with Sudan.
The construction of the project poses an existential danger to Egypt, which depends on the Nile for around 97 percent of its agriculture and drinking water needs.
Sudan expects that the project would help to manage yearly floods, but it is concerned that its own dams might be destroyed if a deal on the GERD's functioning is not reached.
Both nations have pressed Ethiopia to achieve a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the huge dam, but negotiations under the auspices of the African Union (AU) have so far failed to produce a successful outcome.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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