COMESA RISK ASSESSMENT BULLETIN
Volume 1 – No3- April 5th 2009 - Fortnightly
published by
AFRIKASOURCES
Edited by AFRIKASOURCES – Author: Jean Philippe PAYET [CEO-Senior analyst]
The content of this publication is based on a selection of information browsed by our services. Request for a more detailed analysis at payet@in.com – © Afrikasources Consult Ltd – Port-Louis [Mauritius]
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Dam..ned
The 1.8-billion-dollar (1.4-billion-euro) Chinese-engineered Merowe dam has been inaugurated and will double Sudan's power production to
about 1,250 megawatts. Two of its 10 turbines, which were built by French group Alstom, are already in operation.
More than 40,000 people have had to leave their homes to make way for the dam and the vast reservoir that will be formed behind it north of the
capital Khartoum. It is the biggest project of its kind since the construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt in the 1950s and was developed by
China's CCMD consortium under the supervision of German group Lahmeyer.
Located in the north province of Sudan, about 500 km from the capital, it is a key-position project for both power generation and irrigation. Main
structures consist of dams and power plants. The main dam includes 3 types, namely the concrete face rock-fill dam, earth dam with clay core and
the concrete gravity dam, with a dam axis of nearly 9.8 kilometers, crest elevation is 303meters, and 67 meters for the highest point. The power
station installs 10 electric generating sets, the total installed capacity reaches to 1250 MW, 2 times as the present situation in Sudan.
Egypt has not expressed concern about this announce considering that the Nile Basin Countries have finalized 99% of a new agreement governing
the development and usage of River Nile water.
Ethiopia is also midway through construction of a dam upstream on River Omo, which is Lake Turkana’s main tributary, giving it 80 per