Egypt: Ethiopia announced Hedasi Dam is fully filled
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated that Hedasi Dam, which caused some conflicts with the countries of the Nile Basin, was completely filled.
Prime Minister Ahmed, who visited the dam located in the west of the country, stated that the fourth and last filling process of Hedasi has been completed.
Expressing his gratitude to the Ethiopian people who spent effort and money for the construction of the dam, which has been under construction for more than 10 years, Ahmed said, “We struggled with internal difficulties and external pressures. We overcame all of this and were able to get to this stage.” he said.
Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have been having dispute with each other for over 10 years over the Hedasi Dam.
The conflict between Ethiopia and Egypt about Hedasi Dam
Although approximately 80 percent of the Nile waters originate in its territory, Ethiopia can only benefit 3 percent of it. That is why Ethiopia started to build Hedasi Dam, which is the biggest dam in Africa, in 2nd April 2011.
The dam is of great importance because it is built on the Blue Nile River tributary, which feeds the Nile 85%, in a region close to the Sudan-Ethiopia border. Ethiopia aims to close the energy deficit and sell electricity with the Hedasi Dam.
While the Addis Ababa administration insists on filling the dam despite not having an agreement with Egypt and Sudan, the Cairo and Khartoum administrations emphasize that a tripartite agreement should be reached first so that the annual share of Nile water per partner country is not affected.
Despite the reactions, electricity production started for the first time on February 20, 2022, in the dam, where the first filling process was carried out in July 2020.
