Ethiopia Proudly Generates Hydroelectric Power from Abay Dam

BY SOLOMON DIBABA

Today February 20, 2020 is another day of victory registered by the people and government of Ethiopia adding to a checklist of victories the country has registered and continued to mark in the month of February every year.

This is the day on which the age old dreams of the people of Ethiopia who built GERD have been able to witness the fruition of their dreams in reality. The Abay has been effectively harnessed to generate hydroelectric power with the first group of two turbines.

The successes that the people of Ethiopia have attained are by funding the dam from their own pockets. This brave move of the Ethiopian people and government which have successfully foiled the repeated conspiracies by some has changed the course of history.

It is noted that the UNSC tabled Ethiopia as an agenda simply because the country is building a dam to generate hydropower. Ethiopia was unfairly treated by UNSC in utter disregard of its genuine quest for electric power generation to light up the houses of 65% of the population.  On this occasion, Ethiopia would like to thank Russia, China, India and African countries and as well as other allies.

Today, Ethiopia celebrates the fruit of what united Ethiopians can achieve. The generation of electric power from two turbines heralds a new epoch for Ethiopia amidst the war that terrorist TPLF, its allies, international supporters have waged on the people of Ethiopia. This celebration coincided with the marking of Martyr’s Day where  Italian Fascists massacred 30,000 Ethiopians in Addis Ababa in 1937. Nonetheless, Ethiopians are also emerging in victory against terrorist TPLF’s savage and genocidal acts in Amhara and Afar regions.

Over the last 11 years,  Ethiopia conducted the most painstaking effort in trying to convince the lower riparian countries that GERD is a guarantee to the equitable and mutually beneficial utilization of the waters of the Nile.

The first stage of the generation of electric power from GERD that kicked off today heralds not only greater hopes for the economic development of Ethiopia but tolls the bell for the regional economic integration for which Ethiopia would be the main supplier of electric power.

Ethiopia has made every effort under the sun to explain the objectives and technical details of the construction of GERD to the major world powers and their media. Regrettably enough, there are still conspiracies by some congressmen in the US  pushing the Administration to impose the most irrational sanction on Ethiopia in support of terrorist TPLF. The proposed bill has several geopolitical implications.

Over the years,  the people and government of Ethiopia have foiled malicious propaganda bent on undermining  GERD project; today it has started electric power from the 2 turbines, a gift from the current generation to the posterity.

 Prime Minister Abiy has called upon Egypt and Sudan to render their full cooperation on the equitable use of the waters of the Blue Nile for the economic development of the three countries. This would certainly cement the age old multiple sets of relations between the two countries and  set the ground for African economic integration as well as meet AU Agenda 2063 aspirations and ultimately pursue  pan Africanism and self-reliance.

GERD opens a new opportunity for Ethiopia and the lower riparian countries to involve in joint ventures in the areas of eco-tourism, agricultural development on the lake sides of GERD.

It is also important to realize the contributions that GERD can provide in promoting peace, security and strong friendship among the three countries and the rest of Africa. Therefore, contrary to the miscalculations of some quarters, GERD is not a threat but a tool for mutual security among the peoples of the Horn of Arica.

The advent of the generation of power is only the tip of the iceberg as more turbines are on the pipeline to produce electric power. GERD is just one of the projects for the electrification of Ethiopia and Africa. Given other sources of power that Ethiopia has : thermal, solar and wind farm resources, African countries can count on the country for their energy needs. While Kenya is on the verge of benefiting from Ethiopia’s hydropower resources, both Djibouti and Sudan are already connected with hydropower. More countries are expected to seek grid connection from the country's  hydropower resources.

As Ethiopia marks the historic day of producing electric power from the first two turbines, GERD has now proved a landmark indicator for the sovereignty, peace and territorial integrity of the country.

True, the road the country had to travel to ensure the construction and power generation has been tough and painful. Internal forces who were sponsored by those who are opposed to the construction of GERD have time and again tried to sabotage the construction of the dam.  Media outlet in Egypt tried to undermine the construction of GERD by disseminating false information.  

Today GERD has proved it has started generating electricity. As the dam has entered the first stage of production of hydroelectric power, there is still more to be desired until the entire project is finalized. The people of Ethiopia need to exert more efforts in raising more finance until the project is completed.