- Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia
Photo credit: Ventures Africa
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), also known as the Hidase Dam, is a gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia. Construction work on the dam began in April 2011, and engineers expect the project to be completed by July 2017. The dam’s reservoir has an area of 1,561 square kilometers and a storage capacity for 79 billion cubic meters of water. Built by an Italian construction firm at an estimated cost of $5 billion, on completion, the dam is expected to generate 6,000 MW of electricity, making it the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa.
