The Ethiopian News Agency announced on Thursday that “Ethiopia has officially started exporting electricity to Kenya and the line, which was due to end in 2018, ended and then was extended to 2020 and finally to 2022.”
According to Egyptian water resources expert Abbas Sharaka, electricity will be transmitted from the Jibi 3 Dam, which is 300 km away, and the Renaissance Dam is more than 800 km from the border with Kenya. The Omo River (outside the Nile Basin) is the closest to Kenya.
Sharkey pointed out that the length of the transmission line is about 1045 km, starting from the states of Wolayta-Sodo in Ethiopia at the Gebi 3 dam (over 500 km south of the Renaissance dam) to Suswa in southern Kenya, of which about 438 km in Ethiopia and 612 km in Kenya (as on the map).
He noted that the 500-kilovolt transmission line has a capacity of 2,000 megawatts and can stretch from Kenya to Tanzania and South Africa, where Ethiopia’s current electricity generation is about 4,000 megawatts from all power plants and dams, which is enough for about 12 million citizens 24 hours a day. compared to consumption in Egypt. However, it is distributed over a larger number, which is a smaller number of hours, and the population of Ethiopia this year is 123.5 million, more than 70% of them without electricity, they need more than 35,000 megawatts, and yet less Ethiopia is contracting for exports to neighboring countries and has said in the Security Council that it is evaluating projects to “Enlighten Ethiopians Living in the Dark”.
Sharaki continued: “The Ethiopians are waiting for electricity in the hope of completing the dam, and most of them are unaware that most of it will be exported abroad because there is no network to distribute it between them, and it is easier to export. It.”
An Egyptian water expert noted that some claim that the two turbines of the Renaissance dam have not stopped working and that Ethiopia is exporting electricity from them to Kenya, and we are feeding the Egyptians with false information.
He stressed that two turbines can return to work at any time, and another of the 11 turbines can be installed next year, and the Renaissance dam can also be connected to the line at the Djibi-3 dam, and if if that happened, we would mention it, and Egypt would not be harmed by their action or stop.
He pointed out that the entire power of the Renaissance Dam, once completed, is not equal to that of one of the new plants in Beni Suef, Burullus, or the New Administrative Capital, and Egypt is not opposed to development in Ethiopia or elsewhere, nor is it against the Renaissance Dam. with the original specifications, but on the condition that it does not harm others and respects previous agreements and international norms, and respects the rights of others on international rivers.
He continued: “Egypt has always cooperated with African countries, especially the countries of the Nile Basin, and is currently building the Nyerere Dam in Tanzania, and before that we have cooperated in the construction of the Owen Dam on Lake Victoria in Uganda, as well as many projects in Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo and others.
Source: RT
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