Nature forces yet another delay for Gibe, Tekeze dam Power shedding inevitable
A sweeping view of Tekeze hydroelectric dam, the
largest in Ethiopia and Africa’s biggest arch dam, the
obstacle faced at the site would cost the corporation
about 15% of the total project cost.
21 October, 2008
(Capital) Geological, geophysical and hydro geological phenomena have caused construction of the nearly complete hydropower dams in the country to lag behind schedule.
The two dams, Tekeze and Gilgel Gibe II, would be delayed for almost a year as the projects faced geological phenomena that would cost the state power monopoly, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), billions of birr.
The two billion birr Tekeze hydro electric power project, faced with a geological obstacle recently has incurred the corporation an additional 400 million birr to stop the sliding of the mountains where the arch dam is constructed.
Meanwhile, Gilgel Gibe II, which is a continuation of Gilgel Gibe I, and does not need a dam uses water discharged by the Gilgel Gibe I plant, channeled through a 26km tunnel under Fofa mountain, to Omo River Valley where it will harness a 500 meter drop to generate 420 Mega watts. But again, geological phenomena at the site have forced contractors to change the path of the tunnel, a move that would cost both parties additional money.
Mihiret Debebe, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EEPCo told Capital that the obstacles faced at the sites would cost the corporation a considerable amount of money in relation to the original project costs. The two dams are excepted to be delayed until August 2009.
According to the CEO this would make power rationing inevitable during the summer of the current fiscal year. The power demand in the country has increased 16% annually beyond the supply capacity of the corporation.
“The corporation plans to use all its power outputs including excess power from construction sites, including Tekeze, Gibe II and III and Tana Beles hydro power projects. He added that, the corporation would connect the power to the grid and supply it to the ever increasing demand for power. Current power demand is way over the capacity of the corporation, which generates just 814 MW,” said the CEO.
Gilgel Gibe II is a continuation of Gilgel Gibe I project
which involved the building of a conventional dam with
917 million m3 lake and is able to generate 184 Mega
Watts of electric power. www.itacaddis.org
Accordingly, power shedding will start in the next couple of months since Tekeze and Gilgel Gibe II hydro power projects would not be commissioned before the next rain season.
EEPCo recently stopped power shedding that had run for months. The lengthy power outage that was triggered by reduced water levels and high demand, forced the state-owned power generator and supplier to shed power up to three days a week, estimated to cost the country 2% of the GDP, close to 600 million birr.
Mihiret said only Tis Abay and Koka dams got sufficient water during the 2000 E.C main rainy season, while other dams including Melkawakana, Gilgel Gibe, Fincha and Tekeze dams do not get the required amount of water for full operation.
EEPCo signed a contract in June 2002 with the Chinese National Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Corporation (CWHEC) for the construction of the Tekeze dam, expected to generate 300MW.
Tekeze was scheduled to start generating power in 2007 but the corporation was forced to reschedule the deadline to the end of 2009.
Mountains at site leveled down caused additional costs for constructing a restraining wall to avoid the shearing of the mountains around the dam.
Furthermore, Gilgel-Gibe II hydropower plant which was also scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007 was rescheduled for August 2009.
The CEO noted that the problem had not shown up on the feasibility study, and the construction work is done 24 hours a day to complete the project on time.
EEPCo has also announced its plan to construct 10 hydro power plants worth over 13.1 billion dollars, in the next 10 years.
Fan, with a capacity of generating 100 MW, Hallele-Werabessa 422-MW, Tekeze II 450-MW, Gibe IV 1900-MW, Genale III 258-MW, Genale IV 256-MW, Geba I & II 366-MW, Karadobi 1600-MW, Boarder 1200-MW, and Mendaya 2000-MW, are planned to be built or launched under the corporation’s 25 year master plan.
Furthermore, the corporation has slated a capital of over 128 billion birr for construction of transmission lines. The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) said the public should contribute its share in the efforts being made by the corporation to equate power supply and demand in the country.