Gilgel Gibe III Dam

BW

The Gilgel Gibe III hydropower project is under construction dam on the Omo River in Ethiopia with a hydroelectric plant. It has a 243 m high shut-off of RCC RCC and is 470 km southwest of Addis Ababa. When completed it will be the highest dam in Africa and with a capacity of 1870 megawatts ( MW) and the second largest hydroelectric plant in Africa be ( surpassed only by the Aswan Dam ). The currently installed in Ethiopia hydropower capacity stood at 814 MW in 2007, will more than double. In December 2009, according to the owner, the project was completed to 35%.

Omo expansion

Gibe III is a part of the Omo - expansion, which includes a total of five dams: Gilgel Gibe I ( 184 MW ) and II (420 MW) already exist, Gilgel Gibe IV ( 1472 MW ) and V ( 560 MW) are planned. Operator is the Ethiopian state-owned electricity company ( Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation). The cost of the project is estimated at 1.55 billion euros or $ 2 billion. The funding is not yet secured. There are also costs for the power lines to neighboring countries.

The work was awarded in 2006 to Salini Costruttori from Italy. With the engineer planning the studio Pietrangeli was commissioned and ELC COB (ELC Electro Consult - Coyne et Bellier ) the construction supervision.

Benefits and drawbacks

The dam serves as a water reservoir for the connected hydropower plant and thus the generation of electricity. It is expected that half of the electricity produced is used in Ethiopia and the other half to Kenya (500 MW), Sudan (200 MW) and Djibouti (200 MW) will be exported. Since Ethiopia is classified as one of the poorest countries in the world according to the Human Development Index (HDI) and is dependent on international aid, the country expects a positive source of income from the export of electricity.

Local and international groups expect a negative impact on the environment, especially on the Omo National Park in the lower reaches and Lake Turkana, in the Omo flows, and criticize the project.

A number of local and international organizations also criticized the impact of the dam on the natural flooding cycle of the Omo. The construction of the dam would end this cycle and thus jeopardize the livelihoods of 200,000 people in Ethiopia and another 300,000 people in Kenya. The organization Survival International points out that at least eight indigenous groups are affected. They were not involved in the planning of the project, although the Ethiopian Constitution states that "people have the full right to consultation and expression in the planning and implementation of [ ... ] projects that they are directly relevant " (Article 92, No. 4). As a result of the criticism of the project, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has turned away from the project, to support the construction of Gibe III financially.