By: Energy capital & power

Ethiopia has announced that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) – a 6,450 MW hydropower project situated on the Blue Nile – has officially been completed. An inauguration ceremony will be held in September 2025.

Launched in 2011 with a $4 billion budget, the GERD represents Africa’s largest hydropower project. The project stretches 1.8 km wide and 145 m high, with a capacity to hold as much as 74 billion cubic meters of water. GERD is considered an instrumental project for boosting Ethiopian electrification, as it has a generating capacity of more than double the country’s existing output.

In addition to power, according to the Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, the dam “is a symbol of regional cooperation and mutual benefit. The energy and development it will generate stand to uplift not just Ethiopia, but the entire region.”

The state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power company owns and operates the project.