Hydropower in Africa – Switch On Shorts – Video
Summary
This video follows a visit to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, where engineers and a local journalist explain how the project is meant to expand industry and electricity access across Ethiopia and the surrounding region. It also covers the tradeoffs, including the displacement of communities living in the area now being flooded and questions about how drought could affect electricity generation and downstream water supply. Works well as a case study within a high school energy or African geography unit.
Transcript:
Many African nations have large river systems. They began their energy development by building dams and will continue into the future since Africa has only begun to tap its vast hydro potential. To understand the benefits and challenges of building these new projects, I went to see the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The issues they’re managing here will be the same ones other countries navigate as they develop hydro power. How tall is this wall that we’re looking at? Uh, it’s around 150 to 170 m. 170 m. It’s a 50story building. It’s just it’s just crazy this scale. This area we’re looking at here, this is upstream upstream of the dam. When you start to fill everything here will be will be underwater. Under water. Underwater. What is this dam? How will that contribute to lifting up Ethiopia economically? The country is uh leading toward industrialization. So for industry having a reliable and cheap electricity backbone so you’ll be able to provide electricity the citizens of Ethiopia and also we are connected to the neighboring countries. We are building a big transmission line to Kenya which will be a venue to be connected to the southern African grid. Right. It’s not only for Ethiopia. I think it’s pride for Africans as well. Not to Ethiopians alone. Yeah. For all of Africa. Yeah. All of Africa. I talked to Abraham Faca, an Ethiopian journalist who’s written about the several thousand people who are being displaced by this project. In a few years, we would be under about 140 mters of water. And there used to be people that lived here in this area, and they’re going to be displaced as this fills. How did they live? It was a very primitive way of living. The relocation is to give them a better life. Yeah. They have never been to school. They had no access to clean water. So now with relocating them, schools are open, clinic is opened. So at least at the minimum they have an access. Now they are coming to a modernization. I’m not saying that it’s enough right but there is a difference from their previous life to the current one. Africa needs energy. We can’t totally rule out that 100% of dams are not good but they have to be properly selected designed so that um they have minimal impacts and the beneficiaries of that dam should the people who need it most. Right. Yeah. Without electricity, transformation of economy and coming out of poverty is impossible. To improve the livelihood of people, you need reliable and sufficient energy. Yes. So, G really adds a lot of value in that within Ethiopian context. Who knows what might happen if a drought reduced both Ethiopia’s electricity generation and the downstream countries water supply. It will be important not only for the people of these countries and their future, but for the future of all new hydro power projects in Africa.