International legal perspectives on the utilization of trans-boundary rivers: the case of the Ethiopian Renaissance (Nile) Dam

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is at present under construction at the very source of the Blue Nile that contributes about 86 per cent of the total Nile Waters. The specific site of the project is some 42 kilometres from the eastern border of South Sudan. The Renaissance Dam under construction is reportedly one of the largest dams in Africa, twice as large as the inland Lake Tana in Northern Ethiopia. It is estimated it will hold about 63 billion cubic metres of water at completion, and has been designed to generate about 5,552 megawatts of hydroelectric power. The hydropower planned to be generated from the Dam is expected to increase the national power supply by three times more than current supply. The project is estimated to cost about $5 billion or about 80 billion Ethiopian birr up to its completion in five or fewer years. A renewed academic discussion is currently prevalent in various places; more articulate and serious in Ethiopia and Egypt, to a lesser degree, in Sudan.