Ethiopia on Tuesday inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), declaring the 5,150-MW hydropower complex fully online and vowing to electrify the country and sell surplus power across the region. The launch cements a long-running national project and reignites tensions with downstream Egypt, which fears its Nile water supply could be squeezed during droughts.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed presided over a ceremony beneath a vast Ethiopian flag as an air force jet skimmed the dam’s spray. He said the project was built “to prosper, to electrify the entire region,” insisting it was “absolutely not to harm” Sudan or Egypt. Leaders from Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya attended.
Built on the Blue Nile tributary, the $5 billion GERD has been phased into service since 2022; Tuesday’s milestone places it among the world’s 20 largest hydro plants—roughly one-quarter the capacity of China’s Three Gorges Dam. Officials say the vast reservoir—now flooding an area larger than Greater London—will stabilize irrigation flows and help blunt floods and droughts downstream.
Cairo, which relies on the Nile for about 90% of its fresh water and anchors its own water security on the Aswan High Dam, has opposed GERD since construction began in 2011. It argues the project violates historic water accords and poses an existential risk if filled or operated unilaterally during dry spells. Egypt will “exercise its right to take all appropriate measures to defend and protect the interests of the Egyptian people,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tamim Khallaf said. Sudan backs calls for a legally binding deal on filling and operation, while also eyeing potential benefits from flood control and cheaper power.
Addis Ababa began multi-year, rainy-season fillings in 2020, contending the schedule would avoid harm. Independent researchers have so far reported no major flow disruptions—helped by favorable rains and cautious filling—though the core dispute remains unresolved. At home, the dam has become a unifying symbol for a country scarred by internal conflict. “It has been a banner to rally under,” said Mekdelawit Messay, an Ethiopian water researcher.
Funding was overwhelmingly domestic: the central bank covered about 91%, with the remainder raised from Ethiopians through bonds and donations, according to local reporting. For nearby communities, the payoff is tangible. “We now have refrigerators… we use electricity for everything,” said farmer Sultan Abdulahi Hassan.
Yet the grid still lags demand. While urban electrification reached about 94% in 2022, only around 55% of Ethiopians overall had access to power, World Bank figures show, and transmission build-out—especially to rural areas—will take time. The added generation is also expected to feed a growing bitcoin-mining industry, even as most households await connections.