Ethiopia has begun generating electricity at its new 5,000-MW roller-compacted concrete gravity-type dam on the Nile River. The first 375 MW went to the national grid on Feb. 20.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed switched on the first of the 13 installed turbines at the $4.8-billion hydropower plant—also known as Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)—as he sought to allay fears the facility could impact the Nile’s flow to downriver countries Sudan and Egypt.