Ethiopia’s record-breaking Grand Renaissance Dam opens

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the largest hydropower project ever built in Africa, has been officially opened. Image: Webuild

The infrastructure project was designed and constructed by Italian-based Webuild, one of the world’s largest contractors.

The official ceremony was attended by Pietro Salini, Chief Executive of Webuild, alongside Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and the Heads of State of other African countries.

GERD – commissioned by Ethiopian Electric Power – has an installed production capacity of more than 5,000MW and an expected annual output of 15,700GWh, meaning that it can generate energy equivalent to three medium-sized nuclear power plants.

Its reservoir stretches 172km and is able to hold up to 74 billion cubic meters of water, making it the largest hydropower project in Africa.

The main dam stands 170m tall and spans 1,800m at the crest, with a volume of 10.7 million cubic meters of concrete – earning it the record as the largest roller-compacted concrete (RCC) gravity dam ever built in Africa by volume. On December 28, 2014, the construction site set a world record by laying 23,000 cubic meters of RCC in just 24 hours.

Over 25,000 people, many of whom were Ethiopians, worked on the project, gaining skills and expertise that can be applied to future projects.

Webuild has operated in Ethiopia for over 70 years, completing 30 projects, many in the hydroelectric sector.