The latest satellite image of the Renaissance Dam revealed, on Monday, new details confirming the low water reserves in a dam lake and the failure of the turbine’s work.
The Egyptian expert, Dr. Abbas Sharaki, told Al Arabiya.net that the photo taken of the Renaissance Dam on Monday revealed that the Renaissance Dam’s stock had decreased by one billion cubic meters during the past three weeks, and it had become 7 billion cubic meters, as the picture confirms the stopping of the turbine that Ethiopia operated On February 20 last for the second time.
AlNahda dam
The Egyptian expert added that the picture also reveals the continuation of water draining through the two drainage holes at a rate of up to 30 million cubic meters, which means that the turbine launched by Ethiopia is unable to work, pointing out that in order for Ethiopia to start storage and prepare for the third filling, it must raise the middle passage and two sides, which is What needs about 65 thousand cubic meters of concrete per meter of height, which is already difficult to do before the start of the next flood season.
He added that there are less than three months left for the start of the rainy season, and in order for Ethiopia to reach a total storage of 18.5 billion m3, it needs more time to put concrete and raise the middle corridor, which is difficult to achieve, stressing that all these data indicate that the third filling will not be completed, as happened in The second filling.
Ethiopia had announced months ago the start of the process of generating power from the Renaissance Dam, which it built on the Blue Nile, in what is a major turning point in the controversial project.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abi Ahmed, inaugurated the first phase of generating electricity from the Renaissance Dam, in an event with the attendance and participation of dozens of officials, parliamentarians, community leaders and religious leaders, to inaugurate one turbine out of a total of 13 with a capacity of 350 megawatts.
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have been negotiating since 2011 to reach an agreement on filling and operating the dam, but long rounds of negotiations between the three countries have not yet produced an agreement.
During recent joint talks between them in Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, affirmed the two countries’ commitment to reaching a just, fair and binding legal agreement for the process of filling and operating the dam, in a way that achieves the common interests of all parties.
The two sides agreed to continue intensive consultation and mutual coordination in this context during the coming period, emphasizing the paramount importance of the water issue for the Egyptian and Sudanese peoples as a national security issue.