![[insert caption here]](http://www.voafanti.com/gate/big5/www.voanews.com/horn/images/Tekeze-dam.jpg "[insert caption here]") |
Hydro power dam, Tekeze river
|
The Tekeze Dam, a curved and
arched dam that stands 188 meters tall, is almost ready to provide Ethiopia 30
percent more power by generating 300 megawatts of electricity from a reservoir
holding 9.3 billion cubic meter of water.Four 75-megawatts generators
and four turbines beneath the dam will begin service soon, according to the coordinators. The dam has been
gathering the waters of the Tekeze River and its tributaries in northern
Ethiopian.
Asfaw Shirga, the senior
engineer on the project, told VOA ˇ§Ninety-three percent of the structural part
of the dam construction is now completed. We are just looking for plenty of
rain.ˇ¨
In addition to increase power
supplies for the nation, the dam will improve small-scale irrigation
opportunities for farming to the villages of Tigrai found in downstream of the
river.
ˇ§The dam will face
sedimentation problems, 30 million meter cubic soil, in a year and to minimize
that problem, people in Amhara and Tigrai regions are cooperating in working
the trace and re-forestation activities,ˇ¨ said Asfaw.
The dam is funded by the
Ethiopian government. The contractor is
China Water Gazuba Sur, a joint venture of Chinese and Ethiopian
companies. The consultant is Harza
Engineering joint venture Companies of the United States and Serbia.
Tekeze is one of the highest
arch dams in Africa.
E-mail this article
Print Version
