The contract was signed Thursday, March 4, 2010, between the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) and two local companies, Tropics Consulting Engineers and Shebele Consult, and two international firms, Norplan Norscot and ADF Scot Wilson. The financing came from a 414.2 million Br grant from the government of Norway.
The foursome, working together, will do a pre-feasibility study for one dam at Mendiya and a feasibility study for another at Bako Ambo, both of them across the Blue Nile River.
The Mendiya Dam is to be 200 metres high and is expected to generate 2,000MW of power. It is found between the Amhara and Benishangul Gumuz regional states. The Bako Ambo Dam, between Bure in Amhara and Eastern Wollega of the Oromia Regional State, is separated from Mendiya by 164km. This dam will be 285 metres high and is expected to generate 2,100MW.
"We have told the consultants to suggest a means of generating more power than indicated from these two dams," Getu Tilahun, director of Dams and Hydropower at MoWR, told Fortune.
The two studies will take 27 months. The Bako Ambo pre-feasibility study will await a feasibility study. The Mendiya project will be put out to tender by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) for design and construction once the feasibility study is completed.
"The dams will not only supply power to Sudan and Egypt," said Asfaw Dingamo, minister of MoWR, "but they will also be useful in soil and water conservation as well as in preventing flooding in downstream areas."
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