After warning local media outlets about closing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam's spillway gates, and the danger this poses to the dam, an Egyptian water expert announced yesterday, Thursday, that Ethiopia has reopened the dam's upper spillway gates.

Mandatory opening of the dam's spillway gates

Dr. Abbas Sharaqi, professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University, said in statements to "Al Arabiya.net" and "Al Hadath.net" that opening the upper spillway gates yesterday after an eight-day closure is a "mandatory opening" that Ethiopia was forced to do due to the danger of continuing to close the upper spillway gates to the dam's body.

The Egyptian expert added that the Ethiopian Prime Minister opened some of the upper spillway gates on August 24, with a daily flow of about 250 million m3 for only four days, and closed them suddenly on August 28 after Egyptian forces arrived in Somalia. Then the fifth and final storage continued until it reached a level of about 638 meters above sea level on September 4, 2024, with a total storage of nearly 60 billion m3, as this is considered the maximum actual capacity of the Renaissance Dam.

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A recent photo of the Renaissance Dam

The Renaissance Dam

Special

After closing it due to tensions with Egypt.. Ethiopia is forced to open the dam gates forcibly

Abbas Sharaqi: Continued closure poses a danger to the dam body

Egypt

Sudan

Ethiopia

Cairo - Mai Abdel Moneim

Published on: September 6, 2024: 01:30 PM GST

Last update: September 6, 2024: 02:56 PM GST

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After warning local media outlets about closing the Renaissance Dam spillway gates, and the danger this poses to the dam body, an Egyptian water expert announced yesterday, Thursday, that Ethiopia has reopened the upper spillway gates of the dam.

Mandatory opening of the dam's spillway gates

Dr. Abbas Sharaqi, professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University, said in statements to "Al Arabiya Net" and "Al Hadath Net" that opening the upper spillway gates yesterday after being closed for eight days is considered a "mandatory opening" that Ethiopia was forced to do due to the danger of the continued closure of the upper spillway gates on the dam body.

The Egyptian expert added that the Ethiopian Prime Minister opened some of the upper spillway gates on August 24, with a daily flow of about 250 million m3 for only four days, and closed them suddenly on August 28 after the arrival of Egyptian forces in Somalia, then the fifth and final storage continued until it reached a level of about 638 meters above sea level on September 4, 2024, with a total storage of nearly 60 billion m3, which is considered the maximum actual capacity of the Renaissance Dam.

Satellite images of the Renaissance Dam

Satellite images of the Renaissance Dam

Danger to the body of the dam

Sharaki added that if the gates continued to be closed, the surface of the dam lake would have reached the level of the middle passage of 640 meters after only a few days, which poses a danger to the body of the main dam and the saddle dam, as the water level is supposed to be at least several meters lower than this level, and Sharaqi added, "In the High Dam, for example, the level of Lake Nasser is not allowed to reach higher than 182 meters at any time, although the peak The High Dam is at 192m.

Sharaki explained that it is in Ethiopia’s interest for the storage to stop immediately, especially since there were only about two meters left to reach the level of the middle passage, while Ethiopia wants to complete the work of a bridge over the middle passage, and the passage of water over it will disrupt the completion of the bridge.

The four turbines stopped working

The Egyptian expert Abbas Sharaqi also revealed that the four turbines stopped working yesterday, Thursday, according to what the satellites showed, which is happening for the first time in 7 months, as the first two turbines - which were installed in 2022 - started working at the end of last January, and the third and fourth turbines started working on August 24, 2024.

It is noteworthy that the Ethiopian Prime Minister ordered the sudden closure of the upper spillway gates of the Renaissance Dam on August 28, after the arrival of Egyptian military forces directly to Somalia, while he did not disclose whether the reasons for the closure were political or technical.